The association between testosterone and unethical behaviours, and the moderating role of intrasexual competition
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9619782 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Marcelo Vinhal Nepomuceno (0000-0001-5150-6675, Department of Marketing HEC Montréal Montréal Quebec Canada, corresponding author), Eric Stenstrom (0000-0001-9308-3869, Marketing Department Farmer School of Business Miami University Oxford Ohio USA) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 113 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 208-225 |
| Publication date | 2022-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-1269 • E-ISSN: 2044-8295 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/bjop.12525 |
| PMID | 34363209 |
| OpenAlex | W3190036396 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 84 |
Researchers have called for a greater use of neuroscientific methods to advance theories in ethical behaviour. Our research takes a neuroscientific approach to investigating unethical behaviour by examining the roles of testosterone and intrasexual competition. We propose that unethical behavioural intentions will be greater for high‐testosterone individuals in response to highly intrasexually competitive situations as a means of enhancing status. In an experiment, we measure baseline testosterone and assign participants to an intrasexually competitive or control condition. We demonstrate that in men, but not in women, testosterone is positively associated with unethical behavioural intentions in response to an intrasexual competition prime. Furthermore, using textual analysis, we find that testosterone is positively associated with the usage of anger‐related words in response to an intrasexual competition prime among men. In turn, anger‐related words are positively associated with unethical behaviour, suggesting that anger may play a role in motivating high‐testosterone men to behave unethically. Overall, our findings contribute to the literature by suggesting that testosterone and competition lead to greater unethical behaviour in men, and that anger plays a role in promoting unethical behaviour
Anger · Competition (biology) · Developmental psychology · Sexual selection · Testosterone (patch) · Clinical Psychology · Ecology · Endocrinology · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology
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| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |