Is There A Difference In The Way Men and Women Look At Risk? | LaRae Quy

Risks are messy for one simple reason: they involve our emotions. Life soon teaches us that controlling our emotions is like holding a tiger by the tail-hard and unpredictable.

Not only are emotions unpredictable, but they’re also unreliable. Our heart is quite capable of misleading our heads and persuading us to do stupid things in the name of love or anger. It’s easy to let emotions dictate our behavior. Just because something feels bad doesn’t mean it really is bad.

Risk triggers the emotional and intuitive part of our brain and plays an important part in the way we make decisions. Our gut reaction is to avoid risk and stay within our comfort zone, but that thinking can keep us in a rut in both our personal and professional lives.

The only difference between a rut and a coffin is the dimensions.

As we move out of our comfort zone, we move closer to risk. We don’t know how far into the unknown our risks will take us. Conventional wisdom says that women take fewer risks than men, but is it true? Much of the difference can be attributed to the ways boys and girls are socialized as children. In general, boys are reared to shoot from the hip. Girls learn early on that risky behavior can be dangerous.