Testosterone Administration Induces a Red Shift in Democrats

TL;DR

Giving testosterone to weakly affiliated Democrats reduced their party loyalty and made them warmer toward Republicans.

Contribution

Testosterone administration was shown to alter political preferences in weakly affiliated Democrats.

Findings

Weakly affiliated Democrats had 19% higher basal testosterone than strongly affiliated Democrats.

Testosterone reduced party alignment by 12% in weakly affiliated Democrats.

Testosterone increased warmth toward Republican candidates by 45% in weakly affiliated Democrats.

Abstract

An experiment was run to test if a testosterone administration would influence the political preferences of 136 healthy males.

Synthetic testosterone or placebo was administered to participants who identified the strength of their political affiliation.

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.

Our results demonstrate that testosterone induces a “red shift” among weakly affiliated Democrats, providing evidence that testosterone affects political preferences.

Weakly affiliated Democrats had 19% higher basal testosterone than strongly affiliated Democrats.

Testosterone administration in weakly affiliated Democrats reduced alignment to their party by 12% compared to the same group given a placebo.

Weakly affiliated Democrats who were administered testosterone reported 45% warmer feelings towards Republican candidates compared to those given a placebo.

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