Biological & Clinical Psychology, University of Trier, Germany.
Biological & Clinical Psychology, University of Trier, Germany; Institute for Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience, University of Trier, Germany.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2024 Jul;165:107027. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107027. Epub 2024 Mar 15.
Psychosocial stress modulates social cognition and behavior in humans. One potentially mediating factor is cortisol as part of the human endocrine stress response. With a double-blind, placebo-controlled between-subject study design, we tested possible dose-dependent effects of hydrocortisone (0 mg, 5 mg and 20 mg) in 85 healthy males. During a socio-economic decision-making task we measured trust, trustworthiness, sharing, punishment, and non-social risk behavior. Social value orientation (SVO) was also assessed. We observed significantly lower levels of punishment after hydrocortisone, especially in the 20 mg group. Drug-induced salivary cortisol correlated negatively with punishment behavior. None of the other facets of social behavior or the SVO were affected by hydrocortisone. Our results suggest that hydrocortisone reduces the propensity to punish unfair behavior. Future studies are needed to further disentangle the role played by various psychobiological mechanisms within the stress response as well as their complex interplay on social behavior and cognition.
心理社会压力调节人类的社会认知和行为。皮质醇作为人类内分泌应激反应的一部分，是一个潜在的中介因素。我们采用双盲、安慰剂对照的受试者间设计，在 85 名健康男性中测试了氢化可的松（0mg、5mg 和 20mg）的可能剂量依赖性效应。在社会经济决策任务中，我们测量了信任、诚信、分享、惩罚和非社会风险行为。还评估了社会价值取向（SVO）。我们观察到氢化可的松后惩罚行为明显减少，尤其是 20mg 组。药物诱导的唾液皮质醇与惩罚行为呈负相关。皮质醇对其他社会行为或 SVO 没有影响。我们的结果表明，皮质醇降低了惩罚不公平行为的倾向。未来的研究需要进一步阐明应激反应中各种心理生物学机制的作用，以及它们对社会行为和认知的复杂相互作用。
