| Title | Exogenous testosterone increases the audience effect in healthy males: evidence for the social status hypothesis |
| Authors | Wu, Yin Zhang, Yinhua Ou, Jianxin Hu, Yang Zilioli, Samuele |
| Affiliation | Shenzhen Univ, Sch Psychol, Shenzhen 518060, Peoples R China Shenzhen Univ, Shenzhen Key Lab Affect & Social Cognit Sci, Shenzhen 518060, Peoples R China Peking Univ, Sch Psychol & Cognit Sci, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China Wayne State Univ, Dept Psychol, 71 W Warren Ave, Detroit, MI 48202 USA Wayne State Univ, Dept Family Med & Publ Hlth Sci, Detroit, MI 48202 USA |
| Keywords | GENDER-DIFFERENCES GENEROSITY REPUTATION ALTRUISM REWARD NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY PERSONALITY COOPERATION VALIDATION REACTIVITY |
| Issue Date | 29-Jul-2020 |
| Publisher | PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES |
| Abstract | Several studies have implicated testosterone in the modulation of altruistic behaviours instrumental to advancing social status. Independent studies have also shown that people tend to behave more altruistically when being watched (i.e. audience effect). To date, little is known about whether testosterone could modulate the & xfeff;audience effect. In the current study, we tested the effect of testosterone on altruistic behaviour using a donation task, wherein participants were asked to either accept or reject a monetary transfer to a charity organization accompanying a personal cost either in the presence or absence of an observer. We administered testosterone gel or placebo to healthy young men (n= 140) in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, mixed design. Our results showed that participants were more likely to accept the monetary transfer to the charity when being observed compared to when they completed the task alone. More importantly, this audience effect was amplified among people receiving testosterone versus placebo. Our findings suggest that testosterone administration increases the & xfeff;audience effect and further buttress the social status hypothesis, according to which testosterone promotes status-seeking behaviour in a context-dependent manner. |
| URI | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/590636 |
| ISSN | 0962-8452 |
| DOI | 10.1098/rspb.2020.0976 |
| Indexed | SCI(E) |
| Appears in Collections: | 心理与认知科学学院 |
