Freewill? Psychoneuroendocrine factors involved in the process of decision making under risk in young adult men
Testosterone; cortisol; proportion 2D:4D; decision-making under risk; mood; romantic relationships.
Taking-risk behavior is under influenced of neuropsychological, neuroendocrine, social and individual factors, although there is still no clear consensus how much these aspects modulate the process of decision-making under risk. The present study evaluated the effect of psychological states, romantic partnership, and testosterone (prenatal and activational) and cortisol on the risk-taking behavior, as well as the reactivity of testosterone in the performance of risky task. University’ students between 21 and 30 years old (n = 49) participated in the investigation. The behavior towards risk was measured using a self-reported scale of risk propensity (EPR) and a task for decision-making under risk, Columbia Card Task (CCT). Multiple regression analysis shows a negative effect between low 2D:4D ratio, which indicates higher prenatal testosterone, and the attitude towards risk in the health/safety dimension of EPR, when plasmatic basal testosterone and cortisol were either low or high. Also, participants with high 2D:4D ratio, that indicates low prenatal testosterone exposition, showed more risky behavior on the CCT associated with high basal testosterone and low cortisol. Testosterone reactivity was associated to a better performance on CCT. Participants with higher scores for depression and anxiety were more likely to be involved in risky situations, and being in romantic relationships was associated with a higher aversion toward risk in the CCT. These results suggest that prenatal exposure to high levels of testosterone strengthens the attitude toward risk, signifying that activational testosterone seems not to be critical for the expression of this behavioral trait. On the other hand, lower levels of prenatal testosterone allow modulatory effects of activational testosterone on risky behavior depending on the context, and also promote following aversion towards risk to get a more favorable outcome. Furthermore, the findings of the present study suggest that not being involved in romantic relationship might account to have greater risk taking in favor of their reproductive strategies. It was also evidenced that under high-risk contexts young adult men with high depressive and anxious traits might show greater risky behavior.