Men with high testosterone levels are less GENEROUS and are more likely to exhibit selfish behavior.
- Psychologists measured men’s brain activity by choosing between two options
- One option was purely selfish, while the other involved a benefit to another
- They found that men who received testosterone before the test tended to be more selfish
- Testosterone has been found to cushion 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 behavior, a study found.
Psychologists in China and Switzerland measured men’s brain activity as they completed a task that involved deciding between generous and selfish options.
The team found that men who received additional testosterone three hours before completing the task tend to select the most selfish options.
In addition, testosterone has been found to decrease activity in a region of the brain that is known to be involved in considering other people’s well-being.
Having high levels of the hormone testosterone can make men less generous and more likely to exhibit selfish behavior, a study found. In the photo: a greedy man accumulates popcorn
The study was carried out by psychologist Jianxin Oua, of the Shenzhen University of China, and colleagues.
“Testosterone is associated with aggressive behavior in animals and humans,” wrote the researchers in their article.
“Here, we establish a link between the increase in testosterone and selfishness in making economic decisions and we identify the neural mechanisms by which testosterone reduces generosity.”
The researchers recruited 58 men and divided them into two groups, one of which received 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 discount’.
This involved considering people in varying degrees of social distance – that is, in the sense of family / friend through acquaintance with a complete stranger, instead of the notion of social distance that we got used to during COVID-19.
For each one, participants had a choice – they would prefer to take a certain amount of money for themselves (the ‘selfish option’) or a smaller amount of money that also saw the person in question receive money as well (the ‘generous’ option).
The values for the reward in the selfish option ranged from 130–290 CNY (£ 14–32), while the generous option was set at 130 CNY (£ 14) for the participant and the person.
“We found that testosterone induces more selfish choices, especially when it comes to other distant people,” concluded the researchers.
In addition, magnetic resonance imaging revealed that the testosterone gel appeared to decrease activity at the so-called temporoparietal junction of the brain, which previous studies have linked to a consideration for other people’s well-being.
The full conclusions of the study were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.