Psychologists Men are less selfish when under stress

We affect stress on moral choices?
Each of us must make several moral choices throughout our lives. Many of these decisions are made as quickly as possible in today's society. Often sufferers are under considerable stress. Sometimes it is not easy to choose between your own advantages and a morally right decision. German researchers have now investigated whether acute stress has an impact on our moral choices.

The researchers from the Regensburg district hospital and the University of Regensburg found in their study that men in stressful situations act less selfishly when making moral decisions. The experts published the results of their study in the journal "Hormones and Behavior".

Stress has so far been associated with negative effects. Physicians have now discovered that stress helps men make moral choices less selfishly. (Image: Rido / fotolia.com)

How would you decide?
Everyday life has many moral choices. Some of these must be taken in a hurry or under heavy stress. How do you do it when you are in a hurry because you need to make an important appointment and, for example, an old woman needs help getting over a busy street? Are you helping the woman or is your appointment more important to you? Exactly such a question motivated a research group from Germany to investigate the effects of acute stress on the moral decision-making behavior of men.

Subjects were divided into two groups
For the current study, the team of scientists under the direction of Prof. Dr. med. Brigitte Kudielka, Department of Medical Psychology, Psychological Diagnostics and Methodology at the University of Regensburg, a total of fifty healthy young men. These subjects either participated in the so-called Trierer Social Stress Test (TSST) or were confronted with a stress-free control condition, the authors explain.

Physicians measured TSST values ​​of the hormone cortisol
The TSST is a standard protocol used worldwide. This procedure purposely generates moderate psychosocial stress in a behavioral laboratory, the researchers say. After the test, participants had to answer questions about 28 everyday moral decisions. In these situations, there was always a selfless or a selfish answer as an alternative. In addition, subjects should state what feelings they had in making the decision and how confident they were in making the right decision, the experts explain. In addition, the subjects had to complete various self-report questionnaires. Saliva samples were also taken from the participating men at various specified times, the doctors explain. The samples were then used to measure the stress hormone cortisol.

Stressed subjects decided less selfishly
The results of the study show that the subjects under stress in moral decisions less selfish decided, compared with men from the control group. The selfless decisions were also made with greater decision-making certainty, say the authors. There were also more positive emotions compared to selfish choices.

Stress can also lead to positive, improved social consequences
There was also a positive correlation between the level of cortisol and the so-called altruistic decision-making behavior, explain the scientists. The hormone cortisol could therefore be responsible for the observed effects, the experts speculate. The investigation of the research team under the direction of Professor Dr. med. Brigitte Kudielka shows that the perceived stress can also have so-called prosocial consequences and for this reason should not be associated only with negative effects. (As)