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.
Connected relationships
Randomized trial · Moderate
Testosterone→Major cardiovascular events
A rise in Testosterone does not identify a change in Major cardiovascular events.
Lincoff 2023 found that daily testosterone gel was noninferior to placebo for a first major cardiac event among 5198 men aged 45 to 80 with hypogonadism and preexisting or high-risk cardiovascular disease (hazard ratio 0.96, 95% CI 0.78 to 1.17).
Randomized trial · Contested
Testosterone→Economic risk tolerance
The atlas has not yet labeled the sign from Testosterone to Economic risk tolerance.
Large randomized trials do not show that a testosterone dose moves lottery risk. A preregistered study of 1,000 men found no effect of a single nasal dose. Four weeks of testosterone in 200 postmenopausal women also left risk attitudes unchanged.
Observational · Contested
Testosterone→Status seeking
Higher Testosterone moves Status seeking only in some conditions. Read the mechanism.
In observational samples, testosterone tracks status-seeking mainly when cortisol is low; the interaction is small, heterogeneous, and still contested.
Longitudinal / panel · Low
Testosterone→Contest outcome (win / loss)
Higher Testosterone increases 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
Higher Testosterone moves Ultimatum rejection only in some conditions. Read the mechanism.
Exogenous T changes bargaining — but not in the folk direction, and not in every lab.
Review · Moderate
Alcohol intake→Testosterone
Higher Alcohol intake moves Testosterone in a non-linear way. Dose or timing can flip the sign.
Heavy chronic drinking suppresses male testosterone. A 0.5 g/kg drink raised plasma T in thirteen men. Three weeks of 40 grams a day lowered it 6.8 percent in ten men on a controlled diet. A glass of wine is not a T protocol in reverse.
Randomized trial · Contested
Ashwagandha→Testosterone
Higher Ashwagandha increases Testosterone.
Smith 2023 found that 200 mg of Witholytin ashwagandha root extract twice a day for twelve weeks raised free testosterone and luteinizing hormone versus placebo in the men of a trial of overweight adults aged 40 to 75 (P=0.048 and 0.002). The primary stress score did not beat placebo.
Randomized trial · Contested
Fenugreek→Testosterone
Higher Fenugreek moves Testosterone only in some conditions. Read the mechanism.
Rao 2017 found that 600 mg of Testofen fenugreek seed extract a day for twelve weeks raised total and free testosterone versus placebo in 120 healthy men aged 43 to 70. Lee-Odegard 2024 saw a saliva testosterone rise versus placebo in 95 men and missed on plasma. Rao 2020 left testosterone unchanged in men with prostate symptoms.
Randomized trial · High confidence
Expansive posture (power pose)→Testosterone
A rise in Expansive posture (power pose) does not identify a change in Testosterone.
Two minutes in a stance does not identify an androgen change. The larger RCTs are nulls. The TED talk is not a protocol.
Randomized trial · Moderate
Sleep duration and regularity→Testosterone
Higher Sleep duration and regularity increases Testosterone.
In men, experimental sleep loss lowers testosterone. A week of 5-hour nights cut daytime T about 10 to 15 percent. One night of total wake cut 24-hour T. All-night deprivation cut total T; REM-only did not. In 37 healthy adults, T also fell during long wake; caffeine lessened that drop.
Observational · Low
Resistance training→Testosterone
Higher Resistance training moves Testosterone in a non-linear way. Dose or timing can flip the sign.
Ahtiainen 2016: twelve months of resistance training left testosterone production and clearance unchanged in five men near 28 and eight men near 70; a 5×10RM session could raise serum T by slowing clearance.
Longitudinal / panel · Moderate
Contest outcome (win / loss)→Testosterone
Higher Contest outcome (win / loss) increases 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 · Contested
Zinc→Testosterone
Higher Zinc increases Testosterone.
Mahajan 1982 found that 50 mg of elemental zinc as acetate a day for six months raised serum testosterone from 2.8 to 5.2 ng per milliliter versus no change on placebo in 20 men on hemodialysis. Prasad 1997 then saw testosterone fall under zinc restriction in four young men and rise after zinc gluconate in nine older men.
Cases
Sources
- AM Lincoff et al. (2023). Cardiovascular Safety of Testosterone-Replacement Therapy.
- A Dreber et al. (2025). Investigating the effects of single-dose intranasal testosterone on economic preferences in a large randomized trial of men.
- N Zethraeus et al. (2009). A randomized trial of the effect of estrogen and testosterone on economic behavior.
- SJ Stanton et al. (2021). The effect of testosterone on economic risk-taking: A multi-study, multi-method investigation.
- A Nadler et al. (2024). Does a single dose of testosterone increase willingness to compete, confidence, and risk-taking in men? Evidence from two randomised placebo-controlled experiments.
- O Vartanian et al. (2023). Effect of exogenous testosterone in the context of energy deficit on risky choice: Behavioural and neural evidence from males.
- SJ Stanton et al. (2011). Low- and high-testosterone individuals exhibit decreased aversion to economic risk.
- S Huang et al. (2026). Opposing Roles of Testosterone and Cortisol in Prosocial Risk-Taking.
- 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
- RI Elahi et al. (2026). Separable, nonlinear, and interactive effects of testosterone and cortisol during status competition in humans: Evidence for the context-dependent dual hormone hypothesis.
- 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
- M. A. Emanuele et al. (2001). Alcohol and the male reproductive system
- T Sarkola et al. (2003). Testosterone increases in men after a low dose of alcohol.
- A Sierksma et al. (2004). Effect of moderate alcohol consumption on plasma dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, testosterone, and estradiol levels in middle-aged men and postmenopausal women: a diet-controlled intervention study.
- T Sarkola et al. (2001). Alcohol intake, androgen and glucocorticoid steroids in premenopausal women using oral contraceptives: an interventional study.
- SJ Smith et al. (2023). Exploring the efficacy and safety of a novel standardized ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) root extract (Witholytin®) in adults experiencing high stress and fatigue in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
- A Rao et al. (2017). Testofen, a specialised Trigonella foenum-graecum seed extract reduces age-related symptoms of androgen decrease, increases testosterone levels and improves sexual function in healthy aging males in a double-blind randomised clinical study.
- S Lee-Ødegård et al. (2024). Effect of a plant extract of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) on testosterone in blood plasma and saliva in a double blind randomized controlled intervention study.
- A Rao et al. (2020). The effect of Trigonella foenum-graecum extract on prostate-specific antigen, and prostate function in otherwise healthy men with benign prostate hyperplasia.
- 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
- E Barel et al. (2024). The effects of power posing on neuroendocrine levels and risk-taking.
- R. Leproult et al. (2011). Effect of 1 week of sleep restriction on testosterone levels in young healthy men
- PY Liu et al. (2021). Age and time-of-day differences in the hypothalamo-pituitary-testicular, and adrenal, response to total overnight sleep deprivation.
- B Faraut et al. (2020). Daytime Exposure to Blue-Enriched Light Counters the Effects of Sleep Restriction on Cortisol, Testosterone, Alpha-Amylase and Executive Processes.
- TA Alvarenga et al. (2023). The effects of sleep deprivation and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome on male reproductive function: a multi-arm randomised trial.
- C Drogou et al. (2023). Effects of Acute Caffeine Intake on Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Responses to Total Sleep Deprivation: Interactions with COMT Polymorphism - A Randomized, Crossover Study.
- JP Ahtiainen et al. (2016). Effects of resistance training on testosterone metabolism in younger and older men.
- A. Booth et al. (1989). Testosterone, and winning and losing in human competition
- SK Mahajan et al. (1982). Effect of oral zinc therapy on gonadal function in hemodialysis patients. A double-blind study.
- AS Prasad et al. (1997). Zinc status and serum testosterone levels of healthy adults.