High testosterone linked to stingy behaviour

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Here is an interesting study reported by the New Scientist.

Overall, the testosterone cream caused a 27 per cent reduction in the generosity of the offers, from averages of $2.15 to $1.57, Redwine and Zak found.

A more potent variant of testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), exerted an even stronger influence on behaviour. Men with the most DHT in their bloodstream offered their partners a paltry $0.55 of the $10, while men with the least amount of DHT tendered $3.65, on average.

DHT was also associated with a propensity to punish unfair offers. Men with the highest levels rejected offers below $4, while men with low levels of the androgen only punished if the offer was below $2.15, the researchers found.

...

Yet by rejecting unfair offers, testosterone-fuelled volunteers are actually enforcing a social order that calls for a 50-50 split. "People are selfish, but they're selfless as well, and it's not understood why the behaviour shifts," she says.

Although testosterone levels are partly genetically determined, physical exercise, winning a sport competition or a game, and making money have all been shown to increase testosterone levels.

Testosterone correlates with aggression levels, masculinity, logical thinking, muscle mass, hairiness, and apparently now also stinginess.

It would be amusing to see if nations or ethnic groups who are reputedly stingy (such as the Scots, Dutch, Belgians or Jews) do have higher testosterone than average.

Dutch-speakers at least are among the most egalitarian people in Europe (along with Scandinavians), so if they indeed had higher testosterone there would be some truth in the statement that stingy behaviour help "enforcing a social order that calls for a 50-50 split".
 
Aren't the Dutch, Danes, Swedes and Norwegians also some of the tallest people in Europe? I wonder if height has anything to do with testosterone levels?
 
I guess on the weight lifting boards vitamin D3, the sunshine vitamin, has become a popular supplement for raising testosterone levels.

D3 is misnamed as it is really a hormone or maybe better said a pro-hormone. I'm not sure how it works at increasing test levels, but remember this article from Dr Cannell of the Vitamin D Council where it is mentioned - about half way through the article.

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/news...tions-and-answers-international-edition.shtml

So maybe we can throw in weight lifters for stinginess.
 
there is a correlation between height and testosterone production, the different hormones does affect our physical and mental attributes one way or another.
 
This is certainly a new one for me.
 
Here we go again.. The Dutch don't exist.
Part of "The Dutch" is very stingy. Mostly the people in big cities.

The Southerners (Brabant) are much more relaxed than the Westerners (Holland).
The Northerners like Friesland and Groningen have people with a rather cool character.

So I guess aggression is only triggered by the environment one lives in.

It is like with rats and pigs; if there are a few, there is no problem.
If there are many living together, they start getting aggressive towards each other.
Probably a reaction induced by stress.
 
there is a correlation between height and testosterone production, the different hormones does affect our physical and mental attributes one way or another.

Who says so?

In my perception it's always the little guy making a lot of trouble.
Tall guys are more relaxed.

Look at my avatar..
I am a friendly guy. :p
 
Who says so?
In my perception it's always the little guy making a lot of trouble.
Tall guys are more relaxed.
Look at my avatar..
I am a friendly guy. :p

Why is your avatar guy carrying a bolder?
 
Why is your avatar guy carrying a bolder?

That's a menhir.
Obelix produces building blocks. :grin:
At least when he isn't busy smashing Roman soldiers.
Or hunting pigs in the woods.
 
That's a menhir.
Obelix produces building blocks. :grin:
At least when he isn't busy smashing Roman soldiers.
Or hunting pigs in the woods.

For Obelix it isn't that he has high testosterone levels... it's that he fell into a cauldron of magic potion as a baby. Plus too many sangliers :LOL:
 
Testosterone correlates with aggression levels, masculinity, logical thinking, muscle mass, hairiness, and apparently now also stinginess.

It is clear that testosterone levels are closely correlated with muscle mass, hairiness, masculinity and even aggression...

But how does it effect "logical thinking"...

Because testosterone levels in an adult do not even affect sexual preference in the encephalus. The neuronal circuitry that code sexual preference is set (according to a mix of steroidal hormones) in the fetus.

Or maybe testosterone is said to affect logical thinking because sexual drive make adults do poorly reasoned actions?
 
I will look for an article about that. I think it is very interesting subject.
 
I guess logical thinking has little to do with hormones.
It's more a genetically thing. The region where I live has many technical workers.
We get higher grades for Maths and Physics than the rest of the Netherlands.
In the same time, there are problems on the social spectrum.

(Look how I got banned and squashed for nothing, typical for a straight forward technocrat)
 
Here is an interesting study reported by the New Scientist.



Although testosterone levels are partly genetically determined, physical exercise, winning a sport competition or a game, and making money have all been shown to increase testosterone levels.

Testosterone correlates with aggression levels, masculinity, logical thinking, muscle mass, hairiness, and apparently now also stinginess.

It would be amusing to see if nations or ethnic groups who are reputedly stingy (such as the Scots, Dutch, Belgians or Jews) do have higher testosterone than average.

Dutch-speakers at least are among the most egalitarian people in Europe (along with Scandinavians), so if they indeed had higher testosterone there would be some truth in the statement that stingy behaviour help "enforcing a social order that calls for a 50-50 split".
I don't know about Belgians and Jews, but blacks have higher testosterone levels than whites and that does not make them more intelligent apparently.
 
I don't know about Belgians and Jews, but blacks have higher testosterone levels than whites and that does not make them more intelligent apparently.

Who wrote anything about intelligence ? You mean logical thinking ? That's only one facet of intelligence (and a controversial one since it is proven that men are more logical than women in general, but does that make men necessarily more intelligent ?).

This kind of studies (biochemistry, genetics) usually work only within a same racial group. Changing one factor can have a quite different effect depending on one's genome. The more similar the people tested in the study, the more accurately independent factors can be studied (for this specific group). That's why most of the traits and health risks in 23andMe (or other companies) specify the racial group (European, Asian, African) to which the study applies.
 

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