New findings that used the Darwin Awards as a reference showed men are more likely to engage in "idiotic" behavior than women.
Some of the gender differences in injury rates are believed to be linked to cultural and socioeconomic factors, such as likelihood to play sports and have high risk jobs, but these sex differences have been shown to begin at an early age, the British Medical Journal reported.
A class of risk, dubbed the "idiotic risk," is qualitatively different from those associated with dangerous jobs or contact sports. These are defined as "senseless risks" in which there is no apparent payoff and significant consequences.
To make their findings researchers looked at data collected over 20 years by the Darwin Awards. Winners of the Darwin awards must die in such a stupid manner that "their action ensures the long-term survival of the species, by selectively allowing one less idiot to survive." The Darwin Awards Committee works to distinguish between "idiotic" death and instances of accidental death.
The awards are given based on five criteria: "The candidate must be eliminated from the gene pool; The candidate must show an astounding misapplication of common sense; The event must be verified; The candidate must be capable of sound judgment; The candidate must be the cause of his or her own demise."
The researchers performed an A χ2 test to compare the observed distribution of male and female award winners. Awards given to both sexes, such as couples, were excluded. This means the analysis began under the null hypothesis that Darwin Awards were given to an equal distribution of males and females.
Out of the 413 Darwin Award Nominations, 332 were verified by the Committee, and 14 were shared by both male and female nominees. Of the 318 cases used in the study, 282 were awarded to males and only 36 were given to females. This means males made up 88.7 percent of Darwin Award winner.
"This paper reports marked sex differences in the distribution of Darwin Award winners, with males much more likely to receive an award. This finding is entirely consistent with male idiot theory (MIT) and supports the hypothesis that men are idiots and idiots do stupid things," the researchers wrote in the journal.
