男人为什么更喜欢冒险?

　　In the study, researchers analyzed the saliva of 500 M.B.A. students at Chicago's Booth School of Business and put the students through certain games. They determined that men, who typically have higher levels of testosterone, were willing to take greater risks than women.

　　研究人员分析了芝加哥布斯商学院(Booth School of Business) 500名MBA学位在读生的唾液，并安排这些学生完成一些游戏。研究结果是，通常具有更高睾丸激素水平的男性比女性愿意冒更大的风险。

　　It isn't all that surprising to hear that men take more risks: Just look at all the male executives who loaded up on subprime mortgages. And the postscripts of such failed Wall Street firms as Lehman Brothers Holdings and Bear Stearns depict a clear macho culture pervading the corner offices.

　　男人更愿意冒险之说并不怎么出人意料：只需看看那些制造了大量次级按揭贷款的男性高管就可以了。而从雷曼兄弟(Lehman Brothers Holdings)和贝尔斯登(Bear Stearns)等华尔街公司破产后的追述报导看，这些公司的管理层都由典型的男性文化所主导。

　　Interestingly, the researchers found that female students with higher testosterone levels also were willing to take more risks.

　　有意思的是，研究人员发现，体内睾丸激素水平较高的女性也愿意冒更多风险。

　　'We are saying that testosterone, which is a biological marker, rather then gender, makes them take more risks,' says researcher Paola Sapienza, associate professor at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management.

　　参与这项研究的西北大学凯洛格管理学院(Kellogg School of Management)副教授萨潘匝(Paola Sapienza)说，是被视为生物学标记的睾丸激素而非性别，决定了谁愿意冒更多风险。

　　The study found that 36% of the female M.B.A. students chose high-risk financial careers such as investment banking or trading, compared with 57% of the men. Does that mean the hormone, not gender bias, is behind the male-dominated composition of Wall Street?

　　这项研究发现，参与实验的女性MBA学生中，36%的人选择今后从事投资银行和交易等高风险的金融业，参与实验的男生中有57%的人做出了同样选择。难道这意味着华尔街从业人员中之所以男性占大多数，其背后原因是荷尔蒙而非性别偏见？

　　There are some caveats. Ms. Sapienza acknowledges the finding doesn't take into account the social decisions that go into hiring. And the study was conducted in October 2006, at the height of the credit boom, before real-world evidence that excessive financial risk-taking really can threaten the foundations of the world economy.

　　但也有几点值得关注。萨潘匝承认，这项研究并没有考虑决定企业招募何人的社会因素。而且这项研究是在2006年10月进行的，正值信贷膨胀造就的经济繁荣正处在高潮，当时尚无确凿证据显示在金融方面过分冒险会威胁到世界经济的根基。