Have you ever wondered about the powerful role hormones play in our lives? Meet testosterone, a superstar hormone often associated with guys but with a surprising impact on how we make decisions. Let’s take a journey into the world of testosterone and see how it influences the choices we make every day.
Testosterone (C19H28O2) is an anabolic steroid and male sex hormone. On average, the levels of testosterone in adult males are seven to eight times more compared to adult females. Testosterone may also help maintain a normal mood. There may be other important functions of this hormone that have not yet been discovered. The testosterone hormone is not limited to men, in women it is produced in the ovaries and adrenal gland. The androgen plays an important role in normal brain functioning that includes mood, libido and cognitive function.
Further, higher testosterone levels has been linked to an increase in subjects’ more risk-taking behaviour because of reduced perception of fear and anxiety, social decision making-that engages individuals with competitive & assertive behaviours in social situations, thus impacting pro-social behaviours and cooperation during decision making in social contexts. Research studies have found that testosterone levels enhance spatial abilities and visuospatial memory eliciting decision making in specific situation like bargaining and competitive economic interactions.
A still from The Wolf of Wall Street
Nicholas Wright et al, 2012, have studied the effects of testosterone on decision-making through Neuroimaging at UCL (University College London). The findings of their study were interesting. Their study found that testosterone makes individual subjects overvalue their own opinions at the expense of cooperation. Further, higher levels of testosterone were associated with individuals behaving egocentrically. Whereas, another hormone oxytocin elicited cooperation when given a boost of this hormone in an individual. Dr Wright explains “When we are making decisions in groups, we tread a fine line between cooperation and self-interest: too much cooperation and we may never get our way, but if we are too self-orientated, we are likely to ignore people who have real insight,”
Hence, higher levels of testosterone can blind us to other people’s views. It can effect significantly on the decisions making of a dominant individual, to assert his or her own opinion. Further, there are other studies being done on Chimps where a higher dose of testosterone resulted in a confrontation or a fight.
A recent study by Brannon et al, 2019, has found that higher levels of testosterone lead to immoral behaviour, and individuals subjected to testosterone supplements are made more sensitive to moral norms.
Evans et al, 2013, performed an experimental study hypothesizing that men with high testosterone (T) would perform more poorly than those with lesser testosterone in a lab experiment named ‘Iowa Gambling Task’(IGT) to assess decision-making. The risk-taking propensity varies depending upon the level of T. In their experiment, 61 healthy individuals were taken and current T was measured in saliva, and T levels were estimated using a 2D:4D digit ratio. Financially risk-taking was negatively correlated with a good selection of cards from the deck to be chosen in an experiment.
It is very much evident from various literature that higher levels of testosterone impact neurobiological changes and thereby influence our critical decision-making. The major findings of testosterone stimulated more egocentric choices, manifest in a dominating, of one’s own relative to others’ judgments during joint decision-making and show that the biological control of social behaviour is dynamically regulated not only by modulators promoting but also by those diminishing a propensity to collaborate. However, there is a need for a few more experimental studies coupled with neuroscientific studies to explore more on the role of testosterone in our decision-making.
Reference:
- Kelly L., Evans and Elizabeth Hampson, Does risk-taking mediate the relationship between testosterone and decision-making on the Iowa Gambling Task? Peronality and Individual Differences Journal, Vol 61-62
- Nicholas D. Wright, Bahador Bahrami, Emily Johnson, Gina Di Malta, Geraint Rees, Christopher D. Frith, Raymond J. Dolan. Testosterone disrupts human collaboration by increasing egocentric choices. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2012
- Skylar M. Brannon, Sarah Carr, Ellie Shuo Jin, Robert A. Josephs, Bertram Gawronski. Exogenous testosterone increases sensitivity to moral norms in moral dilemma judgements. Nature Human Behaviour, 2019; 3 (8): 856
- “Testosterone makes us less cooperative and more egocentric.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 31 January 2012. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120131210259.htm>.
- The role of testosterone and estrogen in consumer behavior and social & economic decision making: A review
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0018506X16300848
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/drugs-and-medications/testosterone–what-it-does-and-doesnt-do
- consumer behavior, hormones, and neuroscience: integrated understanding of fundamental motives why we buy. By kosuke motoki, motoaki sugiura
- How the ‘manly’ hormone testosterone affects everyone’s behaviour
