[Linus]

Just saw this on one of the FTM Yahoo Groups:

A study conducted by the Universities of Zurich and Royal Holloway London
suggests that the association between testosterone and aggression is all in
our heads. Research with 120 subjects indicates that the hormone can
actually encourage fair behavior when it suits one’s own purposes.

Though the hormone is often associated with virility, aggression and risky
behaviors, the latest research challenges this connection. Previous studies
with castrated rodents demonstrated a reduction in combativeness
post-intervention and the findings have been long generalized to humans.
However, neuroscientist, Christoph Eisenegger and economists Ernst Fehr and
Michael Naef believe that their work refutes the rodent-based findings.

"We wanted to verify how the hormone affects social behavior," Dr.
Eisenegger explains. "We were interested in the question: what is truth, and
what is myth?"

Their study is published in the journal,
*Nature*<http://www.nature.com/nature/index.html>and involved a
behavioral experiment with 120 participants. Prior to the
testing, subjects were administered either 0.5 mg of testosterone or a
placebo and then became involved in a partnered negotiation over real money.
Those who with an artificially increased testosterone level generally made
fairer offers than those given the placebos. "The preconception that
testosterone only causes aggressive or egoistic behavior in humans is thus
clearly refuted," concludes Eisenegger.

"In the socially complex human environment, pro-social behavior secures
status, and not aggression," explains Naef. "The interplay between
testosterone and the socially differentiated environment of humans, and not
testosterone itself, probably causes fair or aggressive behavior".
Interestingly, the researchers also found that the misconception that
testosterone causes aggression is deeply entrenched and reflected in
behavioral patterns. Those who believed they received testosterone boosts
made the most obviously unfair offers. Naef suggests, "it appears that it is
not testosterone itself that induces aggressiveness, but rather the myth
surrounding the hormone. In a society where qualities and manners of
behavior are increasingly traced to biological causes and thereby partly
legitimated, this should make us sit up and take notice."