Seminar Abstract

Friday, July 18, 2008 • 12:15 PM • Medium Conference Room, SFI

Anna Dreber Stockholm School of Economics

Behavior Discussion Group - Boys will be Boys. DRD4 and Risk Preferences in Young Men

The dopamine system has been implicated in a number of behaviors related to risk taking. We investigate the association between risk preferences and the presence of the 7 repeat allele (7R) in the dopamine receptor D4 gene (DRD4) in 94 young men. The 7R allele appears to have emerged through a rare mutation about 40,000-50,000 years ago, making it considerably younger than the common 4R allele. Previous research suggests that it has been subject to positive selection since its emergence. One explanation to this is that 7R's blunted response to dopamine led to behaviors that were selected for in those specific environments, namely in male-to-male competitions. These competitions are typically risky, in which bearers of the 7R-allele may have had an advantage since they are impulsive and unpredictable. In an experimental study we find that men with the 7R allele are more risk loving than men without this allele. We also present evidence on the role of testosterone, both circulating and pubertal, on risk preferences.

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