Testosterone administration increases social discounting in healthy males

PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY

卷:108

Article

Wu, Yin^1,2  Liao, Jiajun^1,2  Zilioli, Samuele^3,4  Wu, Yan⁵  Deng, Huihua⁵  Li, Hong^1,2  Tobler, Philippe N.⁶ 

[1] Shenzhen Univ, Shenzhen Key Lab Affect & Social Cognit Sci, Shenzhen, Peoples R China

[2] Shenzhen Univ, Coll Psychol, Shenzhen, Peoples R China

[3] Wayne State Univ, Dept Psychol, 71 W Warren Ave, Detroit, MI 48202 USA

[4] Wayne State Univ, Dept Family Med & Publ Hlth Sci, Detroit, MI USA

[5] Southeast Univ, Minist Educ, Key Lab Child Dev & Learning Sci, Nanjing, Jiangsu, Peoples R China

[6] Univ Zurich, Dept Econ, Zurich Ctr Neuroecon, Zurich, Switzerland

关键词: Testosterone;    Aggression;    Prosocial preferences;    Social discounting;    Generosity;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.06.013

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Although testosterone is thought to induce antisocial and aggressive behavior, research on social economic interactions has associated it with prosocial and affiliative behavior. Here, we investigated the effects of testosterone on social distance-dependent generosity in an economic discounting task where participants chose between selfish and generous alternatives. We administered testosterone gel or placebo to men in a double-blind, randomized design and measured how willing they were to share rewards with close and distant others. Across two studies (total n = 174), testosterone administration consistently increased social discounting, that is participants became more selfish, particularly with regard to distant others (vs. close others). This effect was not explained by testosterone-induced increases in social distance perception. Our findings provide causal evidence that-testosterone reduces generosity in human economic decision-making. Moreover, they suggest that the valuation and the perception of social distance are independently affected by testosterone.

【 授权许可】

Free