A woman's touch tends to make us feel secure and increases our risk tolerance as a result, according to a new study in Psychological science. The authors believe this soothing effect originates during infancy, when children have a lot of physical contact with their mothers.
During the study, if a female experimenter patted a participant on the back, they'd risk more money on an investment or gamble than if she just talked to them, or if a man did the patting.