‘Born this Way’? Prenatal exposure to testosterone may determine behavior in competition and conflict
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemEditorial
Elsevier
Materia
Digit ratio Contest Conflict Gender: Lab Experiments
Fecha
2023-03-17Referencia bibliográfica
P. Brañas-Garza et al. ‘Born this Way’? Prenatal exposure to testosterone may determine behavior in competition and conflict. Journal of Economic Psychology 96 (2023) 102623[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2023.102623]
Patrocinador
Middlesex University London, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation PID2021-126892NB-I00; Junta de Andalucia PY18-FR-0007; Marie Sklodowska-Curie - Athenea3i 754446Resumen
Fetal exposure to sex hormones can have long lasting effects on human behavior. The second-tofourth
digit ratio (DR) is considered a putative marker for prenatal exposure to testosterone (vs
estrogens), with higher exposure resulting in lower DR. Even though testosterone is theoretically
related to competition, the role of DR in human behavior is debated; and in situations such as
bilateral conflict is unknown. We investigate this through a laboratory experiment using a
repeated 2-person Tullock contest played in fixed same-gender pairs. Based on a previously obtained
large sample of student subjects, we selectively invited participants to the laboratory if
their right-hand DR was in the top (High-DR) or bottom (Low-DR) tercile for their gender. Unbeknownst
to the subjects, we performed a controlled match of the DR types (Low-Low, Low-
High, High-High). This novel methodology allows us to analyze the causal effect of DR on
behavior for the first time in the literature. We find that Low-DR (vs High-DR) males compete
more aggressively regardless of the counterpart’s type. For females’ conflict behavior, the
counterpart’s type matters more than the decision-maker’s type: Low-DRs are non-significantly
more aggressive but every-one is more aggressive against High-DRs. Limitations due to sample
size are discussed.