The goal of this paper is to contribute new behavioral evidence to the study of the different modalities of women’s competition.Įconomists have long observed that sex differences in behavior exist and have consistently documented a gender gap in the desire to compete ( 9– 13). Recently, important studies have laid the foundation for understanding the difference in competitive strategies pursued by the sexes and, in particular, found that females reserve their most intense competitive behaviors for the benefit of offspring ( 3, 5, 8). If competitive traits derive from selection pressures, then men and women should each have evolved competitive traits. From an evolutionary perspective, variance in female reproductive outcomes implies that men and women have been subject to similarly intense selection pressures ( 1, 8). Despite Darwin’s recognition of the importance of intrasexual competition, male–male and female–female competition for resources and sexual reproduction ( 6), most subsequent work has focused on the mechanisms and consequences of male competition. Following pioneering works by Hrdy and Clutton-Brock, significant advances in evolutionary biology, psychology, and anthropology have produced an important body of knowledge on the occurrence and evolutionary significance of female competition ( 1– 5).

The gender gap game instructions