DHEA-S → Status seeking
DHEA-S on an optimization panel is not a status intervention.
Randomized trial · Low · N=280
The association does not survive the backdoor. Usually SES, outdoor time, or healthy-user bias.
Mechanism
Baulieu et al. randomized DHEA in older adults and watched hormones, skin, and libido. The folk leap is 'adrenal androgen → drive → rank'. That leap is not in the trial. Age, illness, and who can afford a panel sit on the backdoor of every observational DHEA–success plot.
Caveats
Correcting a documented deficiency is a medical act. Treating DHEA-S as a leadership lever is marketing. No edge from DHEA-S to income is licensed here.
Effect
qualitative. Replacement moved some aging markers. Rank and ambition were not the endpoints.
Nodes
Named confounders
Cite this page
What Causes What. “DHEA-S → Status seeking.” https://whatcauseswhat.org/edges/e-dhea-status (atlas updated 2026-08-31).
Papers
- Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), DHEA sulfate, and aging: contribution of the DHEAge Study to a sociobiomedical issue
E. E. Baulieu, G. Thomas, S. Legrain, N. Lahlou, M. Roger, B. Debuire · 2000 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences