ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how researchers are also affected by stereotyped beliefs. Distorted incentives that arise from the system of academic publication also play a role. "Confirmation bias" refers to the tendency to perceive and seek out information that confirms one's pre-existing beliefs, and avoid information that conflicts. Confirmation bias is the tendency to favor results that are consistent with a prior belief to results which contradict a prior belief. It appears that many researchers downplay evidence that fails to confirm a belief in women being more risk-averse than men. Results that confirm the usual stereotypes about men and women tend to be overemphasized, and even ambiguous findings tend to be interpreted as supportive of the stereotype. Very little attention is given to framing and contextual effects that could be serving to exaggerate measured differences, or to the types of risks particularly faced by women.
