Treading Lightly or Charging Ahead: Exploring Gender and Age Differences in Attack Investment During an Asymmetrical Conflict Task

Conflict resolution is an inherent aspect of human interactions, representing an essential skill for achieving desirable outcomes. Moreover, recognizing individual differences during conflict may help understand the origins of different opinions and develop targeted strategies to solve disagreements. This study investigates whether gender and age differences influence attack investment during a conflict task in which both sides compete for different reasons. Based on research showing that women display less preference for competition, I predicted that women invest less in attack than men. Similarly, considering studies on the risk-averse behavior of older generations, I expected older individuals to invest fewer resources in attack than younger people. Three hundred one participants performed an online computer-based decision-making game following the outline of the attacker-defender contest. Participants were randomly assigned to the attacker or defender role. Depending on the role...Show moreConflict resolution is an inherent aspect of human interactions, representing an essential skill for achieving desirable outcomes. Moreover, recognizing individual differences during conflict may help understand the origins of different opinions and develop targeted strategies to solve disagreements. This study investigates whether gender and age differences influence attack investment during a conflict task in which both sides compete for different reasons. Based on research showing that women display less preference for competition, I predicted that women invest less in attack than men. Similarly, considering studies on the risk-averse behavior of older generations, I expected older individuals to invest fewer resources in attack than younger people. Three hundred one participants performed an online computer-based decision-making game following the outline of the attacker-defender contest. Participants were randomly assigned to the attacker or defender role. Depending on the role, the tasks involved deciding how to use monetary units (MU) to attack the opponent or protect one’s endowment. Attack investment was defined as the amount of MU assigned to overpower the opponent by obtaining their resources. The results contradicted the predictions, as age and gender were not significant predictors of attack investment. Therefore, this study challenges potential stereotypes claiming aggressive behavior to be more prevalent for a particular age group or gender. I discuss factors such as revising the research design and considering other individual differences that may impact the results’ significance. Altogether, recognizing and leveraging people’s unique characteristics may benefit interactions by encouraging the work toward achieving beneficial results for all parties involved.Show less

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Treading Lightly or Charging Ahead: Exploring Gender and Age Differences in Attack Investment During an Asymmetrical Conflict Task