Girls take as many risks as boys, study finds

A research scientist has disproved the long-standing belief that there is a difference in men and women's attitude to risk.

Men are commonly thought, and have been previously proved, to take more risks than women, but scientists at the University of Gothenburg have found that this is no longer the case.

As part of a doctoral thesis, Margareta Bohlin studied the risk-taking behaviour of boy and girls aged between 15 and 20 and found no difference.

However, she did confirm that females are more likely to perceive a risk as more dangerous, conforming to traditional gender patterns.

"Girls have been given increased access to the public sphere, so they both want to and are expected to behave like boys, and they certainly do," Ms Bohlin explained.

She also found that while girls and boys are now expected to take the same risks, there are still unwritten rules that apply to girls, with alcohol and sex allowed, but disapproved of in girls in high quantities.