Can testosterone shift political preferences?

See Testosterone shifts political preferences in weakly affiliated Democratic men, study finds by Eric W. Dolan. He is the founder, publisher, and editor of PsyPost. Excerpts:

"A new study has found that administering testosterone to weakly affiliated Democratic men reduced their identification with the Democratic Party and made them feel significantly warmer toward Republican presidential candidates. The hormone had no similar effect on strongly affiliated Democrats or Republicans. These findings suggest that short-term changes in biology can influence political preferences—at least for those who are less firmly attached to their political identity.

The research was published in the journal Brain and Behavior and adds to a growing body of work examining how neuroactive hormones shape human behavior in subtle but measurable ways. In this case, the hormone under investigation was testosterone, which is best known for its role in shaping male traits such as muscle growth and sexual function but also influences behavior through its action in the brain."

"The study, “Testosterone Administration Induces a Red Shift in Democrats,” was authored by Rana Alogaily, Giti Zahedzadeh, Kenneth V. Pyle, Cameron J. Johnson, and Paul J. Zak." 

The article has alot of details on how the study was done and what it might mean. Very interesting and worth reading all of it.

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See also Americans start caring more about deficits and the national debt when the party they oppose runs them up by John V. Kane of New York University and Ian G. Anson of The University of Maryland. Excerpt:

"In the past two decades, US budget deficits have skyrocketed, and the national debt is now over $22 trillion. But do Americans care about the size of deficits and the national debt? In new research, John V. Kane and Ian G. Anson find that people tend to care more about the deficits and debts when they are increased by presidents from the party that they oppose. Both Republicans and Democrats, they write, become less concerned about governments running deficits when their President is in charge."