This posting is targeted towards a mainly american political commentator who uses phrases like weak lilied liberals. Its a bit purile, but fun.
The higher your testosterone levels, the more likely you are as a man, to 'fail' the optimum solution in the ultimatum game. The optimum solution in the ultimatum game is one where you accept any offer.
Right wing, libertarian economists assume human nature is limited to their own; the concept of the Selfish Maximiser
In reality human nature is rather different. In the Ultimatum Game as a species, we are willing to sacrifice our own gain, to maintain fairness.
But there is variation.
Human nature is generally defiant towards the Selfish Maximiser notion. But within that general case, there is hormonal variation:
Comparing the hormone data with the results of the money game showed a correlation between high testosterone levels and an increased likelihood of refusing the low, "unfair" offer of $5.
Men who rejected the deal had an average testosterone count of 380 picomoles per litre of saliva, whereas those who accepted it had an average of almost 40% of that figure.
and on the offering end:
Burnham notes that the high-testosterone subjects were slightly more likely to make the more reasonable offer of $25 when placed in the position of making the proposal.
This, he says, is in line with the idea from primate studies that found high testosterone males sometimes play a "magnanimous and peacekeeping" role.
With regards to an individuals politics, the desire to impose fairness, or reject its imposition on the self is a left wing tendency, and hormonally linked to testosterone levels?
supporting links
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12191
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_economicus
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