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Enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) are widely used to measure salivary testosterone. However, little is known about how accurately different EIAs assess testosterone, partially because estimates across various EIAs differ considerably. We compared testosterone concentrations across EIAs of three commonly used manufacturers (DRG International, Salimetrics, and IBL International) to liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Relative to EIAs from Salimetrics and IBL International, EIAs supplied by DRG International provided the closest approximation to LC-MS/MS testosterone concentrations with the least measurement error. Additionally, EIAs largely overestimated testosterone in women's saliva samples with higher testosterone concentrations, relative to men's.Examining our results and comparing them to existing data revealed that testosterone EIAs had decreased linear correspondence with LC-MS/MS in comparison to cortisol EIAs. Overall, this paper provides researchers with information to better measure testosterone in their research and more accurately compare testosterone measurements across different methods.

In the present research, we found that endogenous testosterone and cortisol changes were jointly related to bargaining outcomes. In a face-to-face competitive negotiation (Study 1) and a laboratory-based bargaining game (Study 2), testosterone rises were associated with high earnings and high relationship quality, but only if cortisol dropped. If cortisol rose, testosterone rises were associated with low earnings and poor relationship quality. Conflict between financial and social goals was related to the financially costly dual-hormone profile (testosterone increase and cortisol increase), whereas the absence of such conflict was related to the financially adaptive dual-hormone profile (testosterone increase and cortisol decrease) [corrected].The findings suggest that when cortisol decreases, rising testosterone is implicated in adaptive bargaining behavior that maximizes earnings and relationship quality. But when cortisol increases, rising testosterone is related to conflict between social and financial motives, weak earnings, and poor relationship quality. These results imply that there are both bright and dark sides to rising testosterone in economic social interactions that depend on fluctuations in cortisol.

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A contribution to a special issue on Hormones and Human Competition. Testosterone is theorized to increase retaliation after social provocation. However, empirical evidence in support of these theories is mixed. The present research investigated whether acute stress causally suppresses testosterone's association with retaliation. We also explored sex differences in behavioral responses to acute stress. Thirty-nine participants (51.28% male) were randomly assigned to a high- or low-stress condition. Then participants engaged in 20 one-shot rounds of the ultimatum game, which was used to assess retaliatory behavioral responses to unfair treatment. Participants provided two saliva samples to measure testosterone and cortisol concentrations - one sample before the stress manipulation, and the second after the ultimatum game (20minutes post-stressor). Results revealed a positive association between basal testosterone and retaliation in the low-stress condition, but not in the high-stress condition. Further, cortisol concentrations increased in the high- compared to the low-stress condition, and these cortisol changes moderated the association between basal testosterone and retaliation. The associations between basal testosterone and retaliation under varying levels of stress were similar in men and women. However, there was a sex difference in behavioral responses to the stress manipulation that was independent of testosterone. In women, the high-stress condition reduced retaliation compared to the low-stress condition, whereas in men the opposite pattern emerged. Collectively, this study (i) provides preliminary evidence that experimentally manipulated stress blocks basal testosterone's association with retaliation, and (ii) reveals a sex difference in retaliation under varying levels of stress. Discussion focuses on mechanisms, limitations, and the need for follow-up studies with larger sample sizes.