| Abstract: |
We compare the performance of high-ability adolescent girls and boys who
participated in a a long-running Korean television quiz show. We find there is
a gender gap in performance – in favour of boys – across episodes of the quiz
show. To investigate underlying mechanisms that might explain this, we explore
how male and female performance varies under different rules of the game. We
find that there are no gender gaps when stress is kept to a minimum – that is,
in games without fastest-finger buzzer, knock-outs or penalties. However, in
games with these features, there are significant gender gaps. In addition, we
examine performance in Round 2 of the shows, where we find larger gender gaps.
These are consistent with girls being increasingly hindered by psychological
stress and risk aversion as competition is higher. Finally, we use panel data
to estimate performance in the games in which players stay in for 25
questions. Here we find that girls are less likely to respond faster
especially when their winning probability is higher. Further, the gender gap
is more salient at the end of the game. The results are also consistent with
gendered behavioural responses to psychological pressure. |