Testosterone causes men to tell the truth
Last reviewed: 23.11.2021
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Scientists from the University of Bonn found that the level of "truthfulness" of men depends on the level of the hormone testosterone.
As you know, testosterone makes men attractive, manly and responsible for the propensity for risk. It also helps build muscle mass, stimulates sexual attraction and increases aggression.
To their experiment, scientists attracted about a hundred men. One half of the participants were given a gel on the skin, which contained testosterone, and another - a regular gel. The next morning, experts checked the level of the hormone in the blood and made sure that the gel acted.
The second stage of the experiment was as follows: participants were seated in separate rooms and put in front of the computer monitor. Their task was to play the dice and, depending on the points gained, get a small win. They were not followed by any surveillance, and they knew about it. Deceit researchers identified by statistical method, based on how much the average person is gaining points in this game.
The result of the experiment was very surprising to experts, because it turned out that the least lied to those participants who had received a dose of testosterone the day before and who at the time of the game his level was raised. The influence of the "antisocial" hormone on honesty did not match. But scientists say that the point here is precisely the testosterone reputation that he earned thanks to a slightly misinterpreted link between behavior and testosterone by researchers. In fact, both testosterone has an effect on behavior, and behavior has an effect on testosterone.
"The hormone mobilizes all forces in order for a person to win, raise his self-esteem. But the concrete actions of the man depend on the concrete situation. In this experiment, self-esteem was closely related to honesty, and a small reward that a man could receive by telling a lie was not so worthy of a factor that could influence the outcome of the case. That's why in this case honesty won, not greed. But if in life there was a situation where the rules would cease to exist, the behavior would change - here testosterone only strengthens the effect, "the researchers say.