Testosterone
nmol/L (total) or pg/mL (free)
Androgen produced by the HPG axis. Basal levels and acute contest reactivity are not the same construct.
Total and free testosterone are the most-cited hormones in status and risk folklore. Basal T is a slow trait-like signal; contest T is a minutes-to-hours state. Folk models collapse them into 'more T = more dominance'. The literature treats them separately, and often finds the state change more predictive than the trait.
Also called T, serum testosterone, androgen.
Incident edges
Observational · Contested
Testosterone→Status seeking
Basal T is not a leadership switch. The dual-hormone claim is an interaction, and the interaction is small and contested.
Longitudinal / panel · Low
Testosterone→Contest outcome (win / loss)
The other half of the loop: higher T states make another challenge more likely. Evidence is thinner than the win→T half.
Randomized trial · Contested
Testosterone→Ultimatum rejection
Exogenous T changes bargaining — but not in the folk direction, and not in every lab.
Longitudinal / panel · Moderate
Contest outcome (win / loss)→Testosterone
Winning a meaningful contest raises T relative to losing. That T change then colors the next contest. A loop, not an arrow.
Randomized trial · Moderate
Sleep duration and regularity→Testosterone
Cut sleep, cut T. Small trial, right design, right direction.
Review · Moderate
Alcohol intake→Testosterone
Heavy drinking is an HPG intervention. A glass of wine is not a T protocol in reverse.
Observational · Low
Resistance training→Testosterone
Lifting is a body-composition and insulin intervention. It is a weak basal-T intervention.
Randomized trial · High confidence
Expansive posture (power pose)→Testosterone
Two minutes in a stance does not identify an androgen change. The larger RCT is a null. The TED talk is not a protocol.
Cases
Sources
- P. H. Mehta et al. (2010). Testosterone and cortisol jointly regulate dominance: Evidence for a dual-hormone hypothesis
- P. H. Mehta et al. (2015). The dual-hormone hypothesis: a brief review and future research agenda
- S. N. Geniole et al. (2020). Evidence from meta-analyses of the facial width-to-height ratio versus the dual-hormone hypothesis as predictors of status-seeking
- A. Mazur et al. (1998). Testosterone and dominance in men
- J. M. Carré et al. (2015). Social neuroendocrinology of human aggression: Examining the role of competition-induced testosterone dynamics
- C. Eisenegger et al. (2010). Prejudice and truth about the effect of testosterone on human bargaining behaviour
- P. J. Zak et al. (2009). Testosterone administration decreases generosity in the ultimatum game
- C. Cueva et al. (2017). Testosterone administration does not affect men's rejections of low ultimatum game offers or aggressive mood
- A. Booth et al. (1989). Testosterone, and winning and losing in human competition
- R. Leproult et al. (2011). Effect of 1 week of sleep restriction on testosterone levels in young healthy men
- M. A. Emanuele et al. (2001). Alcohol and the male reproductive system
- D. R. Carney et al. (2010). Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance
- E. Ranehill et al. (2015). Assessing the Robustness of Power Posing: No Effect on Hormones and Risk Tolerance in a Large Sample of Men and Women
- J. P. Simmons et al. (2017). Power Posing: P-Curving the Evidence