Testosterone's Complicated Relationship With Moral Reasoning

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin took a deeper look at the hormonal underpinnings of moral reasoning. Previous research has investigated moral judgment on the basis of behavioral responses and brain activity, but the current study goes beyond this to analyze the role of deep-seated biological factors, particularly testosterone. "There's been an increasing interest in how hormones influence moral judgments in a fundamental way by regulating brain activity," said Bertram Gawronski, a psychology professor at UT Austin. "To the extent that moral reasoning is at least partly rooted in deep-seated biological factors, some moral conflicts might be difficult to resolve with arguments." The researchers borrowed the paradigm of philosophy's trolley problem to test the influence of the hormone testosterone on moral judgments. In the problem, a runaway trolley will kill five people unless someone chooses to pull a lever, redirecting the trolley to another track, where it will kill one person instead. https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/news/testosterones-complicated-relationship-with-moral-reasoning-322849?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=75722909&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--7tWje5XUcjUr35qS2kYOGQAbDacHURD4QVcCRvYIAhbL-KbKa9RgLLUvLBbj48KX2DPSd-lann0QYzSkh_O3TL7LcXQ&_hsmi=75722909