Hermans Erno Jan, Putman Peter, van Honk Jack
Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2006 Aug;31(7):859-66. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2006.04.002.
Although high baseline testosterone levels correlate with low empathy, there is no causal evidence for this association in humans. The present study tested the causality of this relationship by manipulating testosterone levels in a double-blind placebo controlled crossover design. 20 healthy female participants received either a sublingual administration of a single dose of testosterone or placebo on 2 days and were tested 4 h after administration. Because research has shown that facial expression mimicry is a non-obtrusive index of empathy, facial electromyography was measured in response to dynamic facial expressions of happy and angry faces. Results showed that testosterone generally decreased facial mimicry. These findings are consistent with models that assign a critical role to mimicry in the ability to develop and communicate empathy towards conspecifics, and provide a potential causal mechanism of effects of testosterone on empathy.
尽管睾酮基线水平高与同理心低相关，但在人类中尚无此关联的因果证据。本研究通过在双盲安慰剂对照交叉设计中操纵睾酮水平来检验这种关系的因果性。20名健康女性参与者在两天内分别接受单剂量睾酮或安慰剂的舌下给药，并在给药后4小时进行测试。由于研究表明面部表情模仿是同理心的一个非侵入性指标，因此测量了对快乐和愤怒面部动态表情的面部肌电图。结果表明，睾酮通常会降低面部模仿。这些发现与认为模仿在对同种个体产生和传达同理心的能力中起关键作用的模型一致，并提供了睾酮对同理心影响的潜在因果机制。
