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Category: Project

Description: Recently an association between parasympathetic activity at rest (assessed via heart rate variability; HRV; RMSSD) and utilitarian judgements was reported (Park et al., 2016). One aim of the project is to replicate these findings and to extend them by including an indicator of sympathetic activity. To this end, electrodermal activity (EDA) will be recorded as well. Furthermore, previous findings suggest a connection between testosterone and utilitarian judgement tendencies. The role of testosterone and the CAG polymorphism in the androgen receptor gene are thus investigated as are the influence of sex, menstrual cycle phase and the use of oral contraceptives. Update 01/30/2020: Data collection was completed in December 2019 (N=157). Preprocessing of electrophysiological data and hormone analysis are underway. Genotyping for the CAG polymorphism in the AR gene will be done in February / March 2020. Update 02/14/2020: Hormone analyses are complete. Update 03/2020: Due to COVID-19, genotyping is unfortunately delayed. Update 08/2020: A preprint of the first paper of the study is available: https://psyarxiv.com/7vy5u/