Testosterone Administration Reduces Lying in Men

Matthias Wibral, Thomas Dohmen, Dietrich Klingmüller, Bernd Weber and Armin Falk

PLOS ONE, 2012, vol. 7, issue 10, 1-5

Abstract: Lying is a pervasive phenomenon with important social and economic implications. However, despite substantial interest in the prevalence and determinants of lying, little is known about its biological foundations. Here we study a potential hormonal influence, focusing on the steroid hormone testosterone, which has been shown to play an important role in social behavior. In a double-blind placebo-controlled study, 91 healthy men (24.32±2.73 years) received a transdermal administration of 50 mg of testosterone (n = 46) or a placebo (n = 45). Subsequently, subjects participated in a simple task, in which their payoff depended on the self-reported outcome of a die-roll. Subjects could increase their payoff by lying without fear of being caught. Our results show that testosterone administration substantially decreases lying in men. Self-serving lying occurred in both groups, however, reported payoffs were significantly lower in the testosterone group (p

Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0046774

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0046774

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