Testosterone release and social context: When it occurs and why

Gleason, Erin D.; Fuxjager, Matthew J.; Oyegbile, Temitayo O.; Marler, Catherine A.

doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2009.04.009

Cited by 229 publications

(198 citation statements)

References 124 publications

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“…Notably, the association between assignment to the intervention condition and decreased aggression was statistically mediated by decreased testosterone reactivity to provocation [27]. Collectively, these findings are consistent with experimental research in animals demonstrating that competition-induced changes in testosterone play a key role in modulating aggressive behavior [28,29]. This research has clearly established a causal role of testosterone in potentiating aggressive behavior.…”

Section: Establishing the Link Between Testosterone And Aggressionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Testosterone and human behavior: the role of individual and contextual variables

Carré

Archer

2018

Current Opinion in Psychology

104

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The study of testosterone and aggression originated in experimental studies of animals, showing a direct causal link in some species. Human studies showed an overall weak correlation between testosterone and aggression. A theoretical framework ("the challenge hypothesis") enabled testosterone-behavior interactions in humans to be framed within a theory that emphasized hormonal responses to competition influencing subsequent aggressive behavior. The short-term administrations of testosterone to young women and to young men showed influences on behavioral and neural processes associated with aggression. Other findings are that testosterone influences aggression in high dominance men, and in those with low cortisol levels; and that testosterone can affect both aggressive and prosocial behavior, within the context of an experimental game.

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Section: Establishing the Link Between Testosterone And Aggressionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Testosterone and human behavior: the role of individual and contextual variables

Carré

Archer

2018

Current Opinion in Psychology

104

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“…Importantly, the disposition to form coalitions is primarily expressed under conditions of social threat (Geary 2010;Savin-Williams 1979), and the threat of an out-group represents a source of social stress in males that would be expected to trigger hormonal activity as part of a coordinated stress system response. Victories against outside members of a group, for example, are associated with elevations in testosterone in human (Bernhardt et al 1998;Gonzalez-Bono et al 1999;Kivlighan et al 2005;Oxford et al 2010;Wagner et al 2002) and animal studies Gleason et al 2009). Further, higher levels of pre-competition testosterone and cortisol are associated with reduced strength of coalitionary ties (Flinn, Ponzi, and Muehlenbein 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex Differences in Salivary Cortisol Responses to Sex-Linked Stressors: A Test of the Tend-and-Befriend Model

Byrd‐Craven

Auer

Kennison

2014

Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology

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This study examined sex differences in salivary cortisol responses to experimental stressors and subsequent desire to affiliate in the context of mortality cues following the Tend-and-Befriend model. Participants were randomly assigned to a mortality salience prime or a control condition. They were then assigned to view a video of crying infants or a video designed to elicit out-group threat. As predicted, females showed more cortisol reactivity to the video of crying infants and males showed more cortisol reactivity to the video of hate speech in the no prime condition. Males receiving a mortality salience prime, surprisingly, showed a weaker cortisol response to the out-group threat video compared to males who received no prime. Results provide further support of using the Tend-and-Befriend model to predict differences in stress response system activity between men and women, as well as modifications to that theory that incorporate male responses to out-group threats.

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“…This relationship has been mostly investigated during the reproductive period, and has generally been shown to vary with the degree of social instability associated with parenting style, and mating system (Goymann, 2009;Hirschenhauser and Oliveira, 2006;Wingfield et al, 1990Wingfield et al, , 2006. Indeed, it has been shown that socially induced increases in androgen levels, in particular in testosterone (T), can be induced experimentally by simulating a territorial intrusion using decoys (Desjardins et al, 2006;Gleason et al, 2009;Goymann, 2009;Hay and Pankhurst, 2005;Hirschenhauser et al, 2004;Ramenofsky, 1984).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intra- and interspecific aggression do not modulate androgen levels in dusky gregories, yet male aggression is reduced by an androgen blocker

Vullioud

Bshary

Ros

2013

Hormones and Behavior

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Discussions about social behavior are generally limited to fitness effects of interactions occurring between conspecifics. However, many fitness relevant interactions take place between individuals belonging to different species. Our detailed knowledge about the role of hormones in intraspecific interactions provides a starting point to investigate how far interspecific interactions are governed by the same physiological mechanisms. Here, we carried out standardized resident-intruder (sRI) tests in the laboratory to investigate the relationship between androgens and both intra-and interspecific aggression in a year-round territorial coral reef fish, the dusky gregory, Stegastes nigricans. This damselfish species fiercely defend cultivated algal crops, used as a food source, against a broad array of species, mainly food competitors, and thus represent an ideal model system for comparisons of intra-and interspecific territorial aggression. In a first experiment, resident S. nigricans showed elevated territorial aggression against intra-and interspecific intruders, yet neither elicited a significant increase in androgen levels. However, in a second experiment where we treated residents with flutamide, an androgen receptor blocker, males but not females showed decreased aggression, both towards intra-and interspecific intruders. Thus androgens appear to affect aggression in a broader territorial context where species identity of the intruder appears to play no role. This supports the idea that the same hormonal mechanism may be relevant in intra-and interspecific interactions. We further propose that in such a case, where physiological mechanisms of behavioral responses are found to be context dependent, interspecific territorial aggression should be considered a social behavior.

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Testosterone release and social context: When it occurs and why

Cited by 229 publications

References 124 publications

Testosterone and human behavior: the role of individual and contextual variables

Testosterone and human behavior: the role of individual and contextual variables

Sex Differences in Salivary Cortisol Responses to Sex-Linked Stressors: A Test of the Tend-and-Befriend Model

Intra- and interspecific aggression do not modulate androgen levels in dusky gregories, yet male aggression is reduced by an androgen blocker

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