Is Your Man Always Right Even When He's Wrong? It's Testosterone: It Makes Them Act Without Thinking

Is your man always right even when he's wrong? Blame testosterone: Hormone makes them act without thinking, research reveals

• Men with higher levels of testosterone make more impulsive decisions
• They were quicker to make snap judgments when faced with brain teasers
• Hormone increase men's confidence and decreases their need for reflection

Higher levels of testosterone make men more likely to act first without thinking, new research has shown.

The study - one of the largest of its type ever conducted - found the sex hormone increased reliance on gut instinct and made men feel bolder, believing they knew more than they really did.

US researchers examined the underlying behavioural effects of testosterone supplementation.

They found that higher amounts increased men's confidence and their reliance on intuition, and decreased cognitive reflection - the decision-making process by which a person stops to consider whether their gut reaction to something makes sense.




Testosterone is important for men's health - it regulate a number of functions including sperm production, sex drive, bone mass and muscle size and strength



The study, conducted by researchers from Caltech, the Wharton School, Western University, and ZRT Laboratory, found that men given doses of the hormone performed more poorly on brain teasers than a group given a placebo.

'The testosterone group was quicker to make snap judgments where your initial guess is usually wrong,' says Caltech's Colin Camerer, the Robert Kirby professor of behavioral economics.

'The testosterone is either inhibiting the process of mentally checking your work or increasing the intuitive feeling that 'I'm definitely right.''

TEST YOUR THINKING SKILLS: CAN YOU ANSWER THIS?

A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1 more than the ball.

How much does the ball cost?

This was an example of the questions asked in the study.

For many people, the first answer that comes to mind is that the ball costs 10 cents, but that's incorrect because then the bat costs only 90 cents more than the ball.

The correct answer is that the ball costs 5 cents and the bat costs $1.05.

An individual prone to relying on their gut instincts would be more likely to accept their first answer of 10 cents.

However, another person might realise their initial error through cognitive reflection and come up with the correct answer.

A cognitive reflection test was given to 243 males who were randomly selected to receive a dose of testosterone gel or placebo gel.

A math task was also given to control for participant engagement, motivation level, and basic math skills.

The participants were not given time limits but incentivised with cash rewards for answering correctly.

The group that were given testosterone scored 'significantly lower' than the group that received the placebo by as much as 20 per cent.

It was found that the testosterone group also 'gave incorrect answers more quickly, and correct answers more slowly than the placebo group'.

The same effect was not seen in the results of the basic math tests given to both groups of men.

The authors note that the findings 'demonstrate a clear and robust causal effect of [testosterone] on human cognition and decision-making.'

Previous studies have shown that testosterone levels play a major role in risk-taking and men who produce more of the hormone are more likely to engage in extramarital sex.



The prescription of testosterone for older men has increased dramatically in recent years

Some research has even supported a link between adult criminality and testosterone.

Camerer said: 'We think it works through confidence enhancement. If you're more confident, you'll feel like you're right and will not have enough self-doubt to correct mistakes.'

Since testosterone levels gradually increase as men age, synthetic testosterone is sometimes prescribed to older men experiencing a decline in sex drive.

Camerer says the results of the study raise questions about potential negative effects of the growing testosterone-replacement therapy industry.

'If men want more testosterone to increase sex drive, are there other effects? Do these men become too mentally bold and thinking they know things they don't?'

The research will appear in the upcoming issue of Psychological Science, one of the most influential journals in psychology.

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