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Hormonal contraceptives do not impact economic preferences: Evidence from a randomized trial

Ranehill, Eva LU ; Zethraeus, Niklas ; Blomberg, liselott ; von Schoultz, Bo ; Hirschberg, Angelica Lindén ; Johannesson, Magnus and Dreber, Anna (2018) In Management Science 64(10).
Abstract
A growing body of correlational studies suggests that sex hormones such as those contained in, or affected by, oral contraceptives (OCs) may impact economic behavior. However, despite widespread use of OCs among women in Western countries, little is known about their potential behavioral effects. The present study investigates whether OCs causally influence economic preferences. We randomly allocate 340 women aged 18–35 to three months of a widely used OC or placebo treatment. At the end of treatment, we conduct an economic experiment measuring altruism, financial risk taking, and willingness to compete. The statistical power is 80% to detect an effect size equal to a Cohen’s d of 0.30 at the 5% level. We find no significant effects of OCs... (More)
A growing body of correlational studies suggests that sex hormones such as those contained in, or affected by, oral contraceptives (OCs) may impact economic behavior. However, despite widespread use of OCs among women in Western countries, little is known about their potential behavioral effects. The present study investigates whether OCs causally influence economic preferences. We randomly allocate 340 women aged 18–35 to three months of a widely used OC or placebo treatment. At the end of treatment, we conduct an economic experiment measuring altruism, financial risk taking, and willingness to compete. The statistical power is 80% to detect an effect size equal to a Cohen’s d of 0.30 at the 5% level. We find no significant effects of OCs on any of the measured preferences, indicating that this widely used OC treatment, commonly used throughout the world, does not significantly affect the measured economic preferences. Further, we find no relation between menstrual cycle phase and economic preferences in the placebo group. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Management Science
volume
64
issue
10
publisher
INFORMS Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
external identifiers
  • scopus:85105074840
ISSN
0025-1909
DOI
10.1287/mnsc.2017.2844
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
9f390661-e02e-419c-b0ae-d89c91e065d0
date added to LUP
2025-09-04 10:45:14
date last changed
2025-09-05 11:33:06
@article{9f390661-e02e-419c-b0ae-d89c91e065d0,
  abstract     = {{A growing body of correlational studies suggests that sex hormones such as those contained in, or affected by, oral contraceptives (OCs) may impact economic behavior. However, despite widespread use of OCs among women in Western countries, little is known about their potential behavioral effects. The present study investigates whether OCs causally influence economic preferences. We randomly allocate 340 women aged 18–35 to three months of a widely used OC or placebo treatment. At the end of treatment, we conduct an economic experiment measuring altruism, financial risk taking, and willingness to compete. The statistical power is 80% to detect an effect size equal to a Cohen’s d of 0.30 at the 5% level. We find no significant effects of OCs on any of the measured preferences, indicating that this widely used OC treatment, commonly used throughout the world, does not significantly affect the measured economic preferences. Further, we find no relation between menstrual cycle phase and economic preferences in the placebo group.}},
  author       = {{Ranehill, Eva and Zethraeus, Niklas and Blomberg, liselott and von Schoultz, Bo and Hirschberg, Angelica Lindén and Johannesson, Magnus and Dreber, Anna}},
  issn         = {{0025-1909}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{10}},
  publisher    = {{INFORMS Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences}},
  series       = {{Management Science}},
  title        = {{Hormonal contraceptives do not impact economic preferences: Evidence from a randomized trial}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2844}},
  doi          = {{10.1287/mnsc.2017.2844}},
  volume       = {{64}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}