Work

Testosterone Administration Induces a Red Shift in Democrats

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: An experiment was run to test if a testosterone administration would influence the political preferences of 136 healthy males. METHOD: Synthetic testosterone or placebo was administered to participants who identified the strength of their political affiliation. RESULTS: Before the testosterone treatment, we found that weakly affiliated Democrats had 19% higher basal testosterone than those who identified strongly with the party (p = 0.015). When weakly affiliated Democrats received additional testosterone, the strength of their party affiliation fell by 12% (p = 0.01), and they reported 45% warmer feelings towards Republican candidates for president (p < 0.001). Testosterone administration did not affect political preferences for strongly affiliated Democrats or strong or weak Republicans. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that testosterone induces a "red shift" among weakly affiliated Democrats, providing evidence that testosterone affects political preferences.

Source: Brain and Behavior

DOI: 10.1002/brb3.70651

Authors: Rana Alogaily, Giti Zahedzadeh, Kenneth V. Pyle, Cameron J. Johnson, Paul J. Zak

Institutions: Claremont Graduate University, Loma Linda University Medical Center

Language: English

Topic: Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior

Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,630