Manly men are more selfish than ‘wimps’

Men with higher levels of testosterone are less generous, a study has found.

New research has discovered that males with a greater amount of the hormone are more likely to exhibit selfish behaviours.

Scientists from China and Switzerland measured the brain activity of men as they completed a task that required them to choose between generous and selfish options.

The psychologists found that the men who had been given additional testosterone before the task tended to select the selfish options.

In addition, the extra testosterone was found to reduce activity in the brain which is involved in the consideration of other people's welfare.

Jianxin Oua, from China's Shenzhen University, said: "Testosterone is associated with aggressive behaviour in both animals and humans.

"Here, we establish a link between increased testosterone and selfishness in economic decision making and identify the neural mechanisms through which testosterone reduces generosity."