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Cited by 4Evolutionary Psychology and Human BehaviorDecision-Making and Behavioral EconomicsExperimental Behavioral Economics Studies

The Cocksure Conundrum: How Evolution Created a Gendered Currency of Corporate Overconfidence

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Ronay, Richard, Maddux, William W., von Hippel, William·2022·Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology
DOI 10.1007/s40750-022-00197-5
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Abstract

Biological differences between men and women mandate that women’s obligatory investment in reproduction is significantly greater than that of men. As a result, women have evolved to be the “choosier” of the two sexes and men have evolved to compete for female choice. To the degree that overconfidence is an effective tool for attracting mates and driving away competitors, greater competition among men suggests that they should express more overconfidence than women. Thus, sexual selection may be the primary reason why overconfidence is typically more pronounced in men than it is in women. Sexual selection may also be a distal, causal factor in what we describe as a cult of overconfidence pervading modern organizations and institutions. Whereas overconfidence was once regulated and constrained by features of ancestral life, levels of social mobility and accountability in contemporary society and modern organizations make it increasingly difficult to keep this gendered bias in check.

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  • Female mate preferences tend to emphasize men's commitment and ability to acquire resources, traits that are partially hidden and therefore require signaling.

    “In humans, female mate preferences tend to emphasize men ' s commitment and ability to acquire resources, traits that are partially hidden and therefore require signaling (Ronay et al., 2022; von Hippel &Trivers, 2011a).”

    From Talking the talk, not walking the walk: The coevolution of overconfidence and loss aversion (2026) · cites this paper as Ronay et al., 2022

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Ronay, R., Maddux, W. W., & von Hippel, W.
Affiliations
  • University of Amsterdam (NL)
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
Corresponding author
Ronay, Richard
ORCID
Venue
Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2022-08-19
Volume
8
Issue
4
Pages
557-578
ISSN
2198-7335 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1007/s40750-022-00197-5
OpenAlex
W4292358523
Cited by
4
References
5
Citations by year
2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1
FWCI
0.92
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies
Keywords
overconfidence, gender differences, sexual selection, evolutionary psychology, mate choice, reproductive investment, organizational culture, organizational behavior, social mobility, accountability, gender bias

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