Putative human chemosignals have been shown to influence mood states and emotional processing, but the connection between these effects and higher-order cognitive processing is not well established. This study utilized an economic game (Dictator Game) to test whether androstadienone (AND), an odorous compound derived from testosterone, impacts on altruistic behavior. We predicted that the female participants would act more generously in the AND condition, exhibiting a significant interaction effect between gender and AND on Dictator Game contributions. We also expected that the presence of AND should increase the positive mood of the female participants, compared to a control odor condition and also compared to the mood of the male participants. The results confirm our hypotheses: for women the subliminal perception of AND led to larger monetary donations, compared to a control odor, and also increased positive mood. These effects were absent or significantly weaker in men. Our findings highlight the capacity of human putative chemosignals to influence emotions and higher cognitive processes - in particular the processes used in the context of economic decisions - in a gender-specific way.

中文翻译：

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假定的化学信号雄甾二烯酮使女性更加慷慨。

假定的人类化学信号已被证明会影响情绪状态和情绪处理，但这些影响与高阶认知处理之间的联系尚未确定。本研究利用经济游戏（独裁者游戏）来测试雄甾二烯酮（AND），一种来自睾酮的有气味的化合物，是否会影响利他行为。我们预测女性参与者在 AND 条件下会表现得更加慷慨，性别和 AND 之间对独裁者游戏贡献表现出显着的交互作用。我们还预计，与控制气味条件以及与男性参与者的情绪相比，AND 的存在应该会增加女性参与者的积极情绪。结果证实了我们的假设：对于女性来说，与控制气味相比，AND 的潜意识感知导致了更多的金钱捐赠，并且还增加了积极情绪。这些影响在男性中不存在或显着减弱。我们的研究结果强调了人类假定的化学信号以性别特定的方式影响情绪和高级认知过程的能力 - 特别是在经济决策背景下使用的过程。