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Does Testosterone Modulate Aggression and Mating Behavior in Humans? A Narrative Review of Two Decades of single-dose Testosterone Administration Research

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Abstract

Objective

Decades of research suggest a small, but significant positive association between testosterone (T) and measures of aggression and mating psychology/behavior. More recently, researchers have developed single-dose pharmacological challenge paradigms to test the causal role of T in modulating such processes.

Methods

We summarize and synthesize research from single-dose T administration studies. We first summarize the literature showing effects of T on neural and physiological functioning. Next, we investigate T’s effects on aggressive behavior and mating psychology in humans.

Results

Evidence indicates that a single dose of T can have relatively rapid effects on aggression and mating psychology/behavior. However, such effects are often complex and moderated by personality, genetics, and social-contextual factors.

Conclusion

Popular media discourse suggests that T is straightforwardly intertwined with aggression and sexual behavior. Our review indicates that there is a kernel of truth to T’s links to these complex phenotypic outcomes. However, more work will be necessary to establish the role that psychological, genetic, and social-contextual factors play in moderating associations of T with aggression and sexual behavior.

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Data Availability

Not applicable as this is a review paper, not an empirical research article.

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Funding

JMC is funded through a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant. IAA and CTH are funded through NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Assistant grants.

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  1. Carli T. Hemsworth and Idunnuayo A. Alabi contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Nipissing University, P1B 8L7, North Bay, ON, Canada

    Justin M. Carré & Idunnuayo A. Alabi

  2. Department of Psychology, Nipissing University, P1B 8L7, North Bay, ON, Canada

    Justin M. Carré

  3. Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario London, N6A 3K7, London, ON, Canada

    Carli T. Hemsworth

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  1. Justin M. Carré
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Contributions

JMC was the lead author and wrote the manuscript. IAA and CTH created the tables (Tables 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), formatted the manuscript and provided critical edits to the manuscript. All authors reviewed the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Justin M. Carré.

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Carré, J.M., Hemsworth, C.T. & Alabi, I.A. Does Testosterone Modulate Aggression and Mating Behavior in Humans? A Narrative Review of Two Decades of single-dose Testosterone Administration Research. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology 9, 400–425 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-023-00229-8

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