Men with high testosterone levels are less GENERATE and are more likely to have selfish behaviors, the study shows
- Psychologists measured the activity of men’s brains as they chose between two options
- One option was purely selfish, while the other involved a benefit for another
- They found men who were given testosterone before the test became more selfish
- Testosterone has been found to decrease activity at the temporoparietal junction
- This is a region of the brain involved in the well-being of other people
A high level of the hormone testosterone can make men less generous and more likely to exhibit selfish behaviors, a study concluded.
Psychologists in China and Switzerland measured men’s brain activity, while they performed a task that involved choosing generous and selfish options.
The team found that men who were given extra testosterone three hours before the pregnancy ended tended to select more selfish options.
Moreover, it has been found that testosterone decreases activity in a region of the brain, which is known to be involved in considering the well-being of others.
A high level of the hormone testosterone can make men less generous and more likely to exhibit selfish behaviors, a study concluded. In the picture: a greedy man accumulates popcorn
The study was conducted by psychologist Jianxin Oua of the University of China in Shenzhen and his colleagues.
“Testosterone is associated with aggressive behavior in both animals and humans,” the researchers wrote in their paper.
“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 which was given a testosterone gel and the other a colorless placebo gel 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 undertaking a so-called “social reduction” task.
This involved taking into account people with varying degrees of social distance – that is, in the sense of family / friend through completely foreign knowledge, rather than the notion of social distancing we became accustomed to during COVID-19.
For each, participants were offered a choice – they would rather take a certain amount of money for themselves (the “selfish option”) or a smaller amount of money that saw the person in question also receive the money option.
The values for the reward in the selfish option ranged from 130-290 CNY (14-32 GBP), while the generous option was set at 130 CNY (14 GBP) for both the participant and the person.
“We found that testosterone induces more selfish choices, especially when distant others are concerned,” the researchers concluded.
Moreover, MRI scanning showed that testosterone gel appeared to decrease activity in the so-called temporoparietal junction of the brain, which previous studies have linked to a consideration for the well-being of others.
The full results of the study were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.