according to New study Published in the British Journal of Psychology, young men with high testosterone are more likely to act “Unethical” Of men who have low testosterone levels, but only when they are competing to seduce the same woman.

saliva samples

To achieve this surprising result, the researchers collected saliva samples from 83 male and 91 female undergraduates. “We measured ‘baseline testosterone’, which is the level of testosterone that participants release into their bodies when they are at rest,” Mr. Nepomuceno, one of the study’s authors, explains.

The men and women were then divided into two groups: some were asked to consider a neutral situation (the last time they did laundry), and others in a seduction competition. Once these situations were imagined, participants filled out a questionnaire that measured their willingness to adopt or not to adopt risky/immoral behaviours. For example, they were asked if they were ready to “Submitting false income statements where Having an affair with a married man or woman.

“The behavior can be explained by our physiology”

The researchers then found that testosterone levels were positively associated with the desire to engage in immoral behavior, but only in men who considered romantic competition. High testosterone levels were not associated with a willingness to engage in deviant behaviors in the men who had previously thought about washing themselves, nor in any of the women in the group.

“When trying to explain behavior, most people think of cognitive or cultural forces. However, I think it’s important to remember that humans are biological beings too. So our study shows that part of our behavior can be explained by our physiology.”, concludes Mr. Nepomuceno.