The hormones of these gentlemen make them not admit they are wrong. In excess, testosterone promotes impulsive decisions.
Who has never regretted a hasty gesture or an impulsive decision? And who subsequently refused to admit their wrongs? To believe the common thought, this denial is rather the prerogative of men. A study conducted at the California Institute of Technology (United States) seems to point in this direction. Published in Psychological Science, she suggests that a testosterone intake promotes cookie-cutter choices.
243 courageous volunteers have agreed to lend their brains to science. All male, they received a dose of testosterone gel or a placebo. After absorbing the product, these participants took a test consisting of mathematical problems with a common goal: to assess the thinking at work.
Slower responses
For this, the questions are asked in such a way that the first answer – impulsive – is usually wrong. Getting the right result requires careful thought, and accepting your mistake. This is where testosterone comes in.
In order to motivate the participants, a dollar was offered for each correct answer. If all the results are correct, two more dollars are awarded. Something to encourage you to make an effort … except that testosterone tends to interfere.
Men who have taken a male hormone supplement are mistakenly more impulsive. The correct response rate is 20% lower in this group compared to the one who received a placebo.
On top of that, errors happen faster and finding the exact answer takes more time. This does not happen when the problems are straightforward.
Overconfidence
“The group under testosterone is more quick to make judgments hastily during tests where the first intuition is generally wrong”, summarizes Colin Camerer, co-author of the study.
And it is the male hormone that is involved. She has been involved in aggressive and uninhibiting behaviors in the past. Researchers point to two phenomena: testosterone can inhibit the error-checking process – causing you to respond faster but wrong – or simply increase self-confidence – with the same result.
This excess of confidence has very simple consequences: “If you have more confidence in yourself, you will have the feeling to be right, and you will not question your mistakes”, slice Colin Camerer.
Failing to listen to their gonads, these gentlemen would do well to tap into their inner wisdom.
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