"Testosterone Gel on Men's Upper Arms Reduces Audience Effect, Study Shows"

A study on healthy young men found that applying testosterone gel to their upper arms eliminated their tendency to act more prosocially when observed by others, known as the audience effect. Prosocial behavior, which includes voluntary actions intended to benefit others, is crucial for positive social interactions and community bonds. The study involved 190 men and found that testosterone administration reduced strategic prosocial learning through impairment of choice consistency, abolishing the audience effect. The findings contribute to understanding the effects of testosterone on human behavior, but the study's limitations include a predominantly student sample and a fictional task, which may not reflect real-world behavior across different demographics.