How short-term increases in testosterone change men ’s thinking style

Competitive situations or the presence of attractive potential mates can lead to the short-term testosterone increases that were the focus of the new research By Emma Young The hot-headed “macho man”, who acts first and thinks later, has long been popular in movies.  Now there’s psychological evidence to support it. A new study in the Psychological Science finds that a short-term rise in testosterone – as might occur when in the presence of an attractive potential mate, or during competition – shifts the way men think, encouraging them to rely on quick, intuitive, and generally less accurate, judgements, rather than engaging in careful, more deliberate thought. In the biggest investigation of the effects of testosterone on human behaviour to date, a team from Caltech, the University of Pennsylvania, Western University and the ZRT Laboratory in Oregon, recruited 243 men, mostly college students. The men rubbed a gel that they were told either contained testosterone or was a placebo over their shoulders, upper arms and chest. Four-and-a-half hours later – enough time for their testosterone levels to peak – they embarked on a series of tests (saliva samples taken from the men through the study confirmed that testosterone levels were indeed higher in the group that applied the gel that contained testosterone). The most critical test, in terms of the study aims, was the three-item Cognitive Reflection Test, which evaluates a person’s ability to override...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: biological Cognition Gender Sex Thought Source Type: blogs