Men with high testosterone levels are less GENEROUS and more likely to show selfish behaviors, according to a study
- Psychologists measured men’s brain activity by choosing between two options
- One option was purely selfish, while the other entailed a benefit for another
- They found men who received testosterone before the test tended to be more selfish
- Testosterone was found to decrease activity at the temporoparietal junction
- This is a region of the brain involved in the well-being of other people
Having high levels of the hormone testosterone can make men less generous and more likely to exhibit selfish behaviors, a study has concluded.
Psychologists from China and Switzerland measured men’s brain activity while completing a task that involved deciding between generous and selfish choices.
The team found that men who had been given additional testosterone three hours before completing the task tended to select the more selfish options.
In addition, testosterone was found to decrease activity in a region of the brain that is known to be involved in the consideration of other people’s well-being.
Having high levels of the hormone testosterone can make men less generous and more likely to exhibit selfish behaviors, a study has concluded. In the picture: a greedy man hoards popcorn
The study was conducted by psychologist Jianxin Oua of Shenzhen University of China and colleagues.
“Testosterone is associated with aggressive behavior in both animals and humans,” the researchers wrote in their article.
“Here we establish a link between increased testosterone and selfishness in economic decision-making and identify the neural mechanisms by which testosterone reduces generosity.”
The researchers recruited 58 men and divided them into two groups, one of whom was given a testosterone gel and the other a colorless placebo gel made of water and alcohol.
After a three-hour rest period, participants were placed on an MRI scanner and their functional brain activity was measured while performing a task called “social discounting”.
This involved considering people of different degrees of social distance, that is, in the sense of family / friend through acquaintances to strangers, rather than the notion of social distancing to which we have become accustomed during COVID-19.
For each, participants had a choice: they would rather take a certain amount of money for themselves (the selfish option) or a smaller amount of money who also saw that the person in question was also giving money (the generous ‘option’). ).
Reward values in the selfish option ranged from CNY 130-290 (GBP 14-32), while the generous option was set at CNY 130 (GBP 14) for both the participant and the person.
The researchers concluded that “we find that testosterone induces more selfish choices, especially when it comes to other distant people.”
In addition, MRI scanning revealed that testosterone gel appeared to decrease activity in the so-called temporoparietal junction of the brain, which previous studies have related to a consideration for the well-being of others.
The full findings of the study were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.