Left Handed Women are More Competitive than Right Handed Men: On
the Biological Basis of Gender Differences in Competitiveness
Moshe Hoffman and Uri Gneezy
12/5/2010
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Men earn more than women, and women do not rise as high in the work place hierarchy
as men. Competitiveness may provide a partial explanation for this sex gap in the labor market
(Gneezy, Niederle and Rustichini, 2003; Niederle and Vesterlund, 2007; Croson and Gneezy,
2008). Similarly, left handed workers earn more than righties (Ruebeck, 2007). In this paper we
show that handedness and competitiveness are correlated, and suggest that this difference is
partially responsible for the gender gap in earnings. This is important because it shows that
nature has an important role in the gender differences in competitiveness.
Previous work showed that nurture or socialization play a role in determining the
competitiveness of men and women (Gneezy, Leonard, and List, 2009; Dreber et al, 2010; Sutter
et al, 2010), rejecting the “only nature determines competitiveness” straw man. In order to show
that nurture is also important, one needs to find an instrument that does not depend on nurture,
but is affecting competitiveness. While a strong evolutionary theory predicts that biology will
have a role (Trivers 1972; Bateman 1948; Daly and Wilson 1985; Dekel 1999; Andersson,
1994), demonstrating this role of biology in human is nontrivial, since controlled experiments are
not feasible and traditional methods for demonstrating a role of biology, like twin and genetic
studies, are not useful for sex differences.
To test the nature hypothesis, one needs to find an instrument that does not depend on
culture and that is correlated with biological masculinization, and check if it correlates with
competitiveness. We use handedness as such an instrument because it reflects underlying
masculinized neurology.
Handedness does in fact represent underlying neurology. For instance, nearly all righthanded people require the left side of their brain to perform tasks like answering simple
2
questions and naming objects. However, a sizeable fraction of left-handed people require the
right side of their brain to perform the same tasks (Warrington & Pratt, 1973; Piercy, 1964;
Milner, Branch, & Rasmussen 1964; Khedr et al. 2002).
The above argument implies that the neurology of the brain is different between lefties
and righties. But handedness does not just reflect any neural different; it reflects masculinized
neurology. First, virtually all studies find a greater proportion of male lefties than female lefties
(Halpern, 2000). Second, prenatal exposure to male sex hormones increases the likelihood of
being a lefty; for instance, one study found that 7 out of 38 woman whose mothers took a
synthetic hormone (DES) during pregnancy to reduce the risk of birth complications were lefties
as compared to 1 out of 24 of their sisters (Smith & Hines 2000). Third, lefties excel at cognitive
tasks at which males excel. For instance, lefties perform better at mental rotation (Porac &
Coren, 1981), a task at which men typically excel. Fourth, standard sex differences in the labor
market show up as handedness differences (Porac & Coren 1981). An interesting related
anecdote is that since 1929, half of the U.S. presidents have been left handed or ambidextrous
(Hoover, Truman, Ford, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Obama).
Method
In this paper we use a large sample and very large financial incentives to measure
competitive preferences by having participants choose whether to get paid based on a piece rate
incentive scheme or tournament based incentives. We correlate their choices with handedness
and footedness. We carried out the experiment in eight villages in the Meghalaya region of India.
In each session, we recruited the participants (1,142) in advance. An experimenter read the
3
instructions (see Supplementary material) to groups of 12 participants with equal number of men
and women (some groups had less participants). The experimental task involved tossing a tennis
ball into a bucket three meters away (Gneezy, Leonard and List, 2009). The experimenter
informed participants that they would have 10 chances to toss the ball. A successful shot meant
that the tennis ball entered the bucket and stayed there. We chose this task because it was simple
to explain and implement, and there are no other popular task in this society that is similar to the
ball games we implemented. Our data shows no sex difference in success.
Participants were told they were matched with an anonymous participant from another
group. The only decision we asked participants to make concerned the manner in which they
would be paid for their performance. They made this choice before performing the task but only
after they fully understood the instructions and the payment schemes. Participants chose between
(a) 20 Rupees per successful shot regardless of the performance of the participant with whom
they were randomly matched or (b) 60 Rupees per successful shot if they outperformed the other
participant. At the time of the experiment, 60 Rupees was a day’s wage in these villages.
After choosing the incentive scheme, participants completed the task and were told how
the other participant performed. The experimenter asked some subjects how many successful
shots they expected to make right before they began. Later, the experimenter asked most subjects
which hand they wrote with and which foot they kicked with, as well as their age. Finally, the
experimenter paid the participants in cash. As promised, participants never had the opportunity
to learn with whom they had paired.
Results
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As is standard in the literature (Porac and Coren, 1981), we define a subject as lefty if
they report to predominantly use their left limb or are ambidextrous according to either of our
measures. Out of the 1,142 participants, 79 are lefty according to this measure. 550 are male. 355
chose to compete.
We find, consistent with previous results, more males people who chose to compete
before the percentage (38.1%) than females (23%) compete (Fisher Exact Test, one sided p-value
< .0001). Also consistent with previous results (Halpern, 2000), we found a higher frequency of
lefties among men (9.3% of males compared to 5.0% of females, Fisher Exact Test, one sided pvalue =.0018).
Our main result is presented in Figure 1. Within each sex, lefties were more likely to
choose the competitive option. Lefty females are twice as likely as righty females to compete
(23.0% of righty females vs. 46.4% of lefty females, Fisher Exact Test, one sided p-value=.007).
Similarly for males, lefties are 15% more likely to choose to compete than righties (36.9% of
righty males vs. 51.9% of lefty males, Fisher Exact Test, one sided p-value=.0096). Notice that
the difference between righties and lefties is bigger in magnitude than the difference between
males and females.
Figure 1: Percentage Compete by Handedness and Sex
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Subjects are coded as lefty if they responded left or both to either the handedness or footedness
question. Subjects were coded as competitive if they chose to get paid tournament scheme and coded
as not competitive if chose piece rate payment scheme.
Socialization cannot easily explain these results. Although some lefties are forced to learn
to write with their right hand, these same lefties do not appear to learn to throw balls with their
right hand, let alone kick with their left foot (Porac et al, 1986). A famous example is Babe Ruth,
who was schooled to write with his right hand and supposedly complied, but he batted with his
left hand. In our sample, social pressure against eating and writing with the left hand may exist,
but no such pressure exists to kick with the right foot, and hence if our results were explained by
socialization, we would expect a larger effect for handedness than footedness. In fact, we find the
opposite; the difference between righties and lefties is actually bigger in magnitude using the
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footedness measure than the handedness measure: 23.3% of right handed females vs. 41.7% of
left handed females choose to compete whereas 23.3% of right footed females vs. 52.6% of left
footed females choose to compete. And 37.5% of right handed males vs. 52.9% of left handed
males choose to compete whereas 36.5% of right footed males vs. 65.8% of left footed males
choose to compete.
The effect of handedness on competitiveness remains after inclusion of controls.
Regressing competitiveness on sex, lefty, age, age squared, and village fixed effects, the
coefficient on lefty is significantly different from 0 (1 sided p-value=.002) with a sizeable point
estimate of .154, meaning the odds of choosing the competitive payment scheme goes up 15.4%
percent when moving from righty to lefty, ceteris paribus. The sex coefficient is actually smaller
in magnitude than the lefty coefficient, standing in at .125 (p<.001). Since lefty is only a weak
proxy for underlying neurology, we would expect the coefficient to be bigger if we had a more
direct measure of neural structure, such as side of language dominance as measured using a
sodium amytal study.
Since handedness correlates with sex and competitiveness, using the formula for omitted variable
bias, one can show that the sex coefficient (when regressing competitiveness on sex) drops when we add
handedness as a control variable, indicating part of the sex gap in competitiveness is due to the fact that
males are more likely to be lefties. Such an exercise leads to a drop of 9.3%, indicating that at least 9.3%
of the gender gap in competitiveness cannot be explained by socialization.
Two important reasons could cause the difference in competitiveness between lefties and
righties. First, lefties may perform better in the task. We find no significant difference between
the number of successful tosses from righties and lefties. Second, lefties may falsely believe they
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are better at the task. We asked 785 of our subjects to indicate how many baskets they expected
to make right before they started tossing. Lefties expected to make exactly the same number of
baskets as righties. Regressing the expected number of successful tosses on sex, lefty, age, age
squared, and village fixed effects, the coefficient on lefty is -.045 (p-value=.878).
To conclude, we find that lefties are more competitive than righties, within each sex.
Given that handedness has a neural basis, and handedness corresponds with sex as well as
masculine traits, we interpret this as evidence that masculinized neurology or prenatal sex
hormones influence competitive preferences. This biological theory predicts a similar effect for
risk preferences as we found for competitive preferences. We provide evidence for such an effect
in our supplementary information.
In our data, handedness accounts for 9.3% of the sex difference. We see this as a strong
indication that the straw man by which sex differences are only the product of nurture is rejected.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first experimental evidence of the biological basis of sex
differences in competitiveness.
8
References
Andersson, M. (1994). Sexual Selection. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Bateman, A.J. (1948), "Intra-sexual selection in Drosophila," Heredity 2 (Pt. 3): 349–368.
Croson, R., & Gneezy, U. (2004). “Gender differences in preferences.” Submitted to Journal of
Economic Literature.
Daly M., and Wilson, M. (1985). “Child abuse and other risks of not living with both parents.”
Ethology & Sociobiology 6: 197-210.
Dreber, A. and Hoffman, (2010). M. “Portfolio Selection in Utero.” mimeo, Stockman School of
Economics.
Dekel, A. (1999), in Formation of Structure in the Universe, eds. A. Dekel & J.P. Ostriker
(Cambridge University Press), 250
Gneezy, U., Niederle, M., and Rustichini, A. (2003). “Performance in competitive environments:
Gender differences.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(3) 1049-1074.
Gneezy, U., Leonard, K., and List, J. (2008). “Gender Differences in Competition: Evidence
from a Matrilineal and a Patriarchal Society,” Econometrica, 77(5): 1637-1664.
Halpern, D. F. (2000). Sex Differences in Cognitive Abilities. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Khedr, E., Hamar, E., Said A., and Basahi, J. (2002). “Handedness and language cerebral
lateralization.” European Journal of Applied Physiology. 87,( 4-5).
Milner B., Branch C, Rasmussen T. (1964). “Study of short-term memory after intracarotid,”
Neurosurg; 21:399-405.
Nelson, R. J. (2005). Introduction to Behavioral Endocrinology. 3rd Ed. Sunderland, MA:
Sinauer.
Niederle, M. and Vesterlund, L. (2007). “Do Women Shy away from Competition? Do Men
Compete too Much?” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 122(3): 1067-1101.
Piercy, M. (1964) “The Effects of Cerebral Lesions on Intellectual Function.” The British
Journal of Psychiatry.
Porac, C. and Coren, S. (1981). Lateral preferences and human behavior. New York: Springer
9
Porac, C., Coren, S., and Searleman, A. (1986). “Environmental Factors in Hand Preference
Formation: Evidence from Attempts to Switch the Preferred Hand.” Behavior genetics,
Volume 16, Number 2.
Ruebeck, C.S., Harrington, JE Jr. and Moffit R (2007). Handedness and Earnings, Laterality, 12,
101-120.
Smith, L and Hines M. (2000). “Language lateralization and handedness in women prenatally
exposed to diethylstilbestrol (DES)”. Psychoneuroendocrinology. Vol. 25, 5. 497-512.
Trivers, Robert L. (1972) “Parental investment and sexual selection.” In Sexual selection and the
descent of man, B. Campbell (Ed.) 1871-1971 (pp 136–179). Chicago, Aldine
Warrington E.K., and Pratt R.T. (1973). “Language laterality in left handers assessed by
unilateral ECT.” Neuropsychologil, 11:423-428.
Supplementary Materials
Methods for Risk Study
In this second study, we recruited participants for a short survey on mechanicalturk.com.
U.S. citizens with an account on mechanicalturk.com were eligible to participate. They could
find our study by searching for any of the following key terms “survey, answers, lottery,
gambling, research, short, 2 minutes gamble” or by noticing our title “Answer a 2 minute survey
about gambling” on the list of available jobs. All subjects were paid 20 cents for participating
plus one subject was randomly chosen to receive an additional amount depending on the
outcome of a lottery (not yet determined).
Appendix B contains the actual survey. It asked subjects their sex, age, level of
education, income, as well as our two handedness questions “are you right handed, left handed,
or ambidextrous (use both hands equally)? If you are not sure, imagine yourself writing, and
10
consider which hand you would use.” And “are you right footed, left footed, or ambidextrous
(use both feet equally)? If you are not sure, imagine yourself kicking your desk, and consider
which foot you would use. “
The final question, our risk measure, follows Gneezy and Potters (1997). Subjects
received a balance of $250 and were asked how much of the money they wished to invest in a
coin toss. If the coin landed heads, whatever they invested would be multiplied by two and a
half; if it landed tails, whatever they invested would be lost. Either way, the subject received
whatever he did not invest.The amount invested was constrained between $0 and $250. Subjects
learned we would choose one participant to win his balance at the completion of the study.
Subjects then viewed an example before they had to make their decision. We interpreted subjects
who chose to invest lower amounts s as more risk averse.
Results for Risk Study
See table 2.2 for summary statistics. We collected survey responses from 2,000 subjects.
Of these, 1207 were female and 792 were male. The average amount gambled was 109.17 with a
standard deviation of 83.20. Eighty subjects were ambidextrous, 1695 were right handed, and
213 were left handed. As in the previous study, we henceforth group ambidextrous with left
handed. Of the participants, 1512 said they were right footed, 309 said they kicked with both
feet, and 172 said they were left footed. Since so many individuals claimed to kick with both
feet, as compared to the frequency of ambidextrous individuals we found in our other study and
that is common in the literature, we interpret these subjects as having not properly understood the
question and we remove their response to this question from the analysis. However, the results
11
remain essentially the same when they are included. The correlation between handedness and
footedness is again high. Of the subjects, 1416 were right handed and right footed, 119 were left
handed and left footed, 87 were left handed and right footed, and 52 were left footed and right
handed. Henceforth, we will combine the last three groups of individuals into the category
“leftie,” and use it as our third measure of leftie.
Table 2.2a Summary Statistics For Risk Study
N
Male
792
Female
1207
Rightie
1416
Leftie
258
Table 2.2b Further Summary Statistics For Risk Study
12
Amount Invested
Mean
Standard Deviation
$109.17
$83.20
Consistent with other studies (Charness and Gneezy 2010), men risked more than women
(see figure 2.4). The average investment from men was $125.27 as compared to $98.61 for
women. Also consistent with previous studies, we found more leftie males than females (see
figure 2.5). Compared to 13.8 percent of females, 16.1 percent of males were left handed.
Compared to 9.5 percent of females, 11.3 percent of males were left footed. Compared to 15.4
percent of females, 18.9 percent of males were leftie.
Figure 2.4 Percentage Lefties by Sex
13
Subjects are coded as leftie if they responded left or both to the handedness question or left to the
footedness question.
14
Figure 2.5 Average Amount Invested by Sex
Subject were given $250 and allowed to allocate any proportion of this in a coin toss. Whatever they
invest gets multiplied by 2.5 in the case of heads and lost otherwise.
Within each sex, the average amount invested was higher for lefties than righties (see
figure 2.6). The average investment for right-handed women was 96.9, compared to 110.4 for
left-handed women. The average for right-handed men was 124, compared to 129.6 for lefthanded men. The average investment for right-footed women was 98.4, compared to 115.5 for
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left-footed women. The average investment for right-footed men was 125.8, compared to 128 for
left-footed men. The average investment for rightie females was 96.9, compared to 108.9 for
leftie females. The average for rightie males was 124.7, compared to 128.2 for leftie males.
Regressing the amount invested on sex, leftie, and linear and quadratic terms for age, income,
and education, the sex coefficient is $27.08, and the leftie coefficient is $9.65 (p=.047).
Figure 2.6 Average amount invested by Leftie and Sex
Subjects are coded as leftie if they responded left or both to the handedness question or left to the
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footedness question. Subject were given $250 and allowed to allocate any proportion of this in a coin
toss. Whatever they invest gets multiplied by 2.5 in the case of heads and lost otherwise.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPETITION MEASURE
Welcome to this study of decision-making. The experiment will take about 20 minutes. The
instructions are simple, and if you follow them carefully, you can earn a considerable amount of
money. All the money you earn is yours to keep, and will be paid to you, in cash, in private, at
the end of today. Your confidentiality is assured.
Pay attention to these instructions. Please do not talk with each other from this point on. If you
have a question, you can raise your hand and ask. Otherwise, please be quiet and listen
carefully. After the instructions are finished, we will take you inside and you will play the game.
The task that we ask you to perform is throwing this ball into a bucket from a line. (Show them
the ball, bucket and line). You will have 10 chances and you will be paid for your performance.
Before you do the task, you will have a choice between 2 ways of earning money.
Option 1 (Individual Payment): If you choose this option, you receive 20 rupees for each ball
you throw in successfully.
Option 2 (Tournament): If you choose this option, your performance will be compared with a
random person from another group. You will receive a reward only if you succeed more times
than this person. If you succeed more times than your opponent and win the competition, you
will be paid 60 rupees for every ball you throw in successfully. So if you succeed once, then you
will get 60 rupees. If you succeed 2 times, then you will get 120 rupees. If you succeed 3 times
you will get 180 rupees and so on. But you will only receive a reward if you are better than your
opponent. Otherwise you will get zero. If you both succeed the same number of times, you get 20
rupees for each success.
17
Do you have any questions?
In a few minutes, we will take you inside to play the game. Inside, we will ask you
individually/privately which option you would like to choose.
Khasi:
Ngi pdiang snewbha iaphi sha kane ka jingpule jongka jingshim ia ka rai. Kan shim por
tang kumba 20 minit. Ki jingbatai ki long kiba suk ban sngewthuh,bad lada phi bud bniah
ia ki, phin kham kamai kham bun. Baroh ka pisa ba phi ioh ka dei ka jong phi ba phin
buh, yn siew ia phi, da ka pisa, tang para marwei, ynda la sep ka sngi. Ka jingsngew
skhem bad jingshaniah jong phi ia lade ka long ka ba donkam bha.
Mynta ngin batai ia phi shaphang ka rukom lehkai. Sngap bha ia kine ki jingbatai namar
ba katba phi nang kham sngewthuh kham bha katta phin nang kham ioh ban kamai kham
bun ka pisa. Lada phi don kano kano ka jingkylli, phi lah ban rah ka kti bad kylli. Hyrei
te, sngewbha long ki ba sngapjar bad shah shkor bha. Ynda ladep kine ki jingbatai, ngin sa
ialam iaphi shapoh ba phin sdang ia ka jingialehkai.
Shwa ba phin sdang, phin jied na kine 2 tylli ki lad bad kamai pisa.
Ka jingjied kaba 1 (Kaba ialeh marwei): La da phi jied ia kane, phin ioh 20 tyngka manla
kawei pa kawei ka bol kaba phi lah ban thep ne pynrung.
Ka jingjied daka ba 2 (kompetition/ ka jingiakob): Lada phi jied da kane pat, ia ka jinglah
ban lehbha jongphi yn pyniatynjuh bor bad ka ____(green/yellow) krup. Phin ioh ia ka
bainong jongphi tang lada phi lah ban leh khambha ban ia u nongialeh pyrshah jongphi.
Lada phi lah ban leh khambha ban ia u nongialeh pyrshah jongphi, bad jop ia ka
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competition, yn siew 60 tyngka manla kawei pa kawei ka bol kaba phi lah ban pynrung.
Kumta lada phi lah bah pynrung tang shisien, phin ioh 60 tyngka. Lada phi lah ban
pynrung 2 sien, phin ioh 120 tyngka. Lada phi lah ban pynrung 3 sien phin ioh 180 tyngka
bad kumta ter ter. Hynrei phin ioh ia kane tang lada phi lah ban leh kham bha ban ia u
nongialeh pyrshah jong phi. Lym kumta phin ioh not (zero). Lada baroh ar ngut phi ia
long mar kum juh, baroh ar ngut na phi phin ia ioh tang mar 20 tyngka manla kawei pa
kawei ka bol kaba phi lah ban pynrung.
Dong kano kano ka jingkylli?
Tang hapoh khyndiat minit, ngin sa ialam ia phi shapoh ba phin ioh ban leh kai. Ynda phi
la don hapoh, ngin sa kylli iaphi para marwei kano napdeng kane ka jait jingialehkai phi
kwah ban ialehkai. Ngi ruh ngin sa iathuh iaphi, shwa ba phin jied, ia u nongialeh pyrshah
jongphi lada dei u ne ka.
Shwa ban gin leit shapoh, ngin ia peit katto katne ki nuksa:
Before you go inside, let us give the following examples:
(Ask control questions to the whole group)
(Pyrshang kylli jingkylli ia ka krup baroh kawei)
•
“If I choose the individual payment (that is, if I do not choose competition), and I throw
in 5 balls successfully how much money do I get?”
Khasi:
•
“Lada nga jied da kaba ialehkai marwei (katta kamut, lada ngam treh ban ialeh da
ka kopetition ), bad lada nga rung 5 tylli ki bol katno ka pisa nga dei ban ioh?”
19
•
“If I choose to compete and I throw in 3 balls successfully and my opponent makes 2
balls, how much money do I get?
Khasi
•
“Lada nga jied ban ialehkai daka kompetition bad nga lah ban pynrung 3 tylli ki
bol bad u nongialeh pyrshah jong nga u pynrung 2 tylli, katno ka pisa nga dei ioh?”
•
“If I choose to compete and I throw in 4 balls successfully and my opponent throws in 5
balls, how much money do I get?
Khasi
•
“Lada nga jied ban ialehkai daka kompetition bad nga pynrung 4 tylli ki bol bad u
nongialeh pyrshah jongnga u pynrung 5 tylli ki bol, katno ka pisa nga dei ban ioh?”
•
“If I choose to compete and I throw in 2 balls successfully and my opponent throws in 2
balls also, how much money do I get?”
Khasi:
•
“Lada nga jied ban ialehkai daka competition bad nga pynrung 2 tylli ki bol bad u
nongialeh pyrshah jongnga ruh u pynrung 2 tylli ki bol, katno ka pisa nga dei ban
ioh?”
Do you have any questions?
Don kano kano ka jingkylli?
(Take them into the room)
Khasi:
(Ialam ia ki sha ka kamra)
INSTRUCTIONS TO BE READ INSIDE
20
Remember that with Option 1 (individual pay), you get 20 rupees per successful throw. With
Option 2 (tournament), you get 60 rupees per successful throw if you are better than your
opponent, zero if you are worse, and 20 rupees per successful throw if your performance is the
same.
Khasi:
Kynmaw ba lada phi jied da kaba nyngkong (kaba kamai marwei shimet), phin ioh 20 tyngka
manla kawei pa kawei ka bol ba phi lah ban pynrung. Lada phi jied da kaba 2 pat (da kaba ialeh
da ka competition pat ) phin ioh 60 tyngka manla kawei pa kawei ka bol lada phi leh khambha
ban ia u nongialeh pyrshah jong phi, phin ym ioh eiei lada phi rem, bad 20 tyngka lada jia ba phi
ialong mar katjuh.
We have matched you with someone from the next room, who is doing the same task as you. NO
SEX INFORMATION GIVEN! If you choose competition, we will compare your performance
with this person. Now, please tell us which option you would like to choose—individual pay
(Option 1) or competition (Option 2).
Khasi:
Ngi la pyniabuh mangi ia u nognialehpyrshah jongphi naka _____(YELLOW/GREEN) krup.
______U/ka briew (**iathuh lada dei kynthei/shynrang katkum ka jingthoh ha ka sex column, ia
u/ka nongialeh pyrshah**). Lada phi jied da ka competition, phi hap ban iakhun pyrshah ban
_____u/ka. Mynta, Sngewbha iathuh ia ngi kano napdeng kine ki lad phin jied ban iakeh kai −
Kaba kamai marwei shimet (lada phi jied da kaba nyngkong) lane da ka kompetition (lada phi
jied da kaba ar)
(Record this under 1st stage choice)
Khasi:
(Thoh ia kane ha ka “choice” column haka bynta ba nyngkong u lain ba nyngkong jong ka
rekod sheet)
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Now, we will ask you to tell us how many successful shots out of 10 you think you are going to
make. You will be paid an additional 10 rupees if your guess is correct.
Khasi:
Mynta, ngin kylli ia phi katno sien phi lah ban pynrung na ka 10 tylli ki bol. Phin ioh tam 10
tyngka lada phi lah thik ban pynrung kumba phi ong.
(Record this under Guess(own)!)
Khasi:
(Thoh ia kane kaka “Guess”column (jong u)!)
(RA Says): Remember that there is a person in the next room you were matched with. How many
successful shots out of 10 do you think that person will make (he or she, don’t say specific
sex!!!)? You will be paid an additional10 rupees if your guess is correct.
Re-translate:
Khasi:
(RA Ong): kynmaw ba don ____(u briew/ka briew) uba phi hap ban ialeh pyrshah ha ka wei pat
ka kamra. Katno tylli tharai (U/KA) kin lah ban pynrung ia ka bol? Phin ioh tam 10 tyngka lada
phi ong thik katba u ne ka ki lah ban pynrung.
(Record this under Guess(other)!)
22
(Thoh ia kane!)
Khasi:
(Thoh ia kane kaka “Guess”column (jong u nongialeh pyrshah)!)
[The guesses are recorded on the record sheet]
Khasi:
[ ki jingtharai lah buh jingthoh ha ka kot thoh]
Now you can start throwing the balls.
Khasi:
Mynta phi lah ban sdang ban kawang ia ka bol.
[Subject throws 10 balls, helper puts a check on the sheet for each ball made, adds]
Khasi:
[ki nongiashimbynta kin kawang ia ki shiphew tylli ki bol, ki nongiarap kin buh jingthoh ia ki bol
kawei pa kawei ka bol kaba rung bad sa khein lang.]
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NOTE TO RA’s: AT THIS POINT YOU GO AND MEET WITH THE RA’s FROM
OTHER ROOM. COMPARE A1 with B1, A2 with B2 etc. Then, give feedback to your
subject, depending on if she did better/worse than opponent.
If your subject got more balls in than opponent, say:
“you did better than the person you were matched with, he or she did worse than you”.
MAKE SURE TO SAY THIS RIGHT!!!!!THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.
Re-translate according to the above!!!
Naka bynta ki RA’s: Pule na ki sheets ki jong phi.
Khasi:
Phi la lah ban pynrung ____sien. U/ka nongiashim bynta ha kawei pat ka karma kala dep hi. Ka
kham lah ban pynrung kham _____ (bun/duna) ban ia phi
Stage 2: Now we will repeat the same game with another 10 balls. Like before, you will again
have the chance to choose between the two payment schemes. Your opponent will be the same
person you were matched with in the first stage.
Khasi:
Bynta ba 2: Ngin pynialeh biang ia kajuh sa 10 tylli ki bol. Kumba leh mynne, phin ioh ban
jied na ar jiad ki rukom ialehkai. U/ka nongiashim bynta kin dei hi kijuh kiba phi ialeh
mynne
Remember, with Option 1 (individual pay), you receive 20 rupees for each ball you throw in
successfully.
Khasi:
Kynmaw, da kaba jied da kaba nyngkong (kaba kamai marwei shimet) phin ioh 20 tyngka manla
kawei pa kawei ka bol kaba phi thep
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With Option 2 (tournament), you receive 60 rupees per ball but only if you succeed more times
than the woman/man you were matched with. Otherwise you will get zero. If you both succeed
the same number of times you will both get 20 rupees for each success.
Khasi:
Lada phi jied da kaba ar pat (competition), phin ioh 60tyngka tang lada phi jop ban ia u/ka
nongialeh pyrshah jongphi, lym kumta phin ym ioh eiei. Lada jia ba phi ia ryngkat bor phi ia ioh
tang mar 20 tyngka naka bynta kawei pa kawei ka ball ba phi pynrung ha ka borti.
Now, please tell us which option you would like to choose for this stage.
Khasi:
Mynta, iathuh iangi kano ka bynta phinjied
(Record This Under Choice in the Stage 2 Row of Record Sheet)
Khasi:
(Thoh ia kane hapoh ka choice column haka bynta kaba ar jong u lain ba ar!)
Now, we will ask you to tell us how many successful shots out of 10 you think you are going to
make. You will be paid an additional 10 rupees if your guess is correct.
Khasi:
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Mynta, ngin kylli iaphi katno na ka 10 tylli ki bol phi lah ban pynrung. Phin ioh tam 10 tyngka
lada phi dei thik kumba phi ong/iathuh.
How many successful shots out of 10 do you think the person in the next room is going to make?
You will be paid an additional 10 rupees if your guess is correct.
Khasi:
Katno tylli ki bol phi tharai ba ka nongialeh pyrshah jong phi ha kawei pat ka karma ka lah ban
pynrung? Ngin siew ia phi tam 10 tyngka lada ka dei thik kumba phi ong maphi
[The guesses are recorded on the record sheet]
Khasi:
[ki jingtharai lah buh jingthoh ha ka kot thoh]
Now you can start throwing the balls.
Khasi:
Mynta phi lah ban sdang ban kawang noh ia ka bol.
[Subject throws 10 balls, helper puts a check on the sheet for each ball made, adds]
Khasi:
[ki nongiashimbynta kin kawang ia ki shiphew tylli ki bol, ki nongiarap kin buh jingthoh ia ki bol
kawei pa kawei ka bol kaba rung bad sa khein lang.]
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