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Testosterone has a lot of roles—some good, some perhaps counterproductive. Now research suggests that testosterone can make people more poised for aggression, even if they’re not feeling feisty.
Study participants received testosterone or a placebo and then were shown color-tinted faces of men and women. The faces had subtle differences that made each one look angry, happy, or neutral.
When scientists changed the color of the face, the study subjects were asked to look at a circle of the same color below the face. Those who got the testosterone boost diverted their gaze from the angry faces more slowly than from the happy or neutral faces—an aggressive move. Subjects who got the placebo did not show this behavior.
None of the participants reported recognizing any faces as having a specific facial expression, suggesting that the recognition of the angry face was subconscious. And none of the subjects reported mood changes after receiving the testosterone.
It used to be thought that testosterone drives social dominance by imparting an awareness of feeling superior and strong. But this study shows that testosterone might be an unconscious driver, motivating social dominance as it does in other animals, involuntarily and automatically.
—Christie Nicholson
[The above text is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
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15 Comments
Add CommentAnd combined with political environment and in the wrong moment may be a lethal mixture. Be careful !!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe authors have linked threat recognition with "social dominance"? Really?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Those who got the testosterone boost diverted their gaze from the angry faces more slowly than from the happy or neutral faces—an aggressive move."
It is an "aggressive move" for one's gaze to linger on a face that is perceived as angry? Seems to me that it is prudently defensive to keep an eye on a potential threat. Those who fail to make that recognition, and to follow through with surveillance of the threat, are less likely to survive than those who succeed.
Notice that many other species also display similar facial differences when "angry"; furrowed brows, bared teeth, and so on. Failing to recognize such displays can get one eaten.
Without that capacity the species would not have survived to *form* societies.
The article here paraphrases the actual research abstract, which reads:
"...testosterone administration in humans prolongs dominant staring into the eyes of threatening faces..."
Since when is it exclusively and conclusively an attempt to dominate someone by "staring into the eyes"? This makes me wonder if the authors have ever taken a date to a dimly-lit restaurant and considered their own "staring" behaviors as "aggressive".
Even granting that one is observing an angry person, "staring into the[ir] eyes" is also an excellent way to make short-term predictions of the next move of the owner of those eyes.
I'd also like some more explanation of how "color-tinted faces of men and women... [make] each one look angry, happy, or neutral".
This makes little sense. I have got older, er, in fact, I have got old. I have considerably less testosterone than previously, and if things go along as biologically normal, will have less by the week and so should be growing less aggressive by the week. Yet every week, there are ever more Wall Streeters and other republickans that I want to hit in the face with a stick. Every week, the stick gets bigger; every week the number of desired strikes goes up. Could there be a non-chemical reason for this?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTaking vigorous exercise produces testosterone, so this explains why the Saturday morning runners at the park (where I walk with my dog) are such an uncouth, aggressive, bunch.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI don't dispute the findings in this study. Young men are especially susceptible to aggressive and erratic behavior. That is why it is extremely important for young men to have older male role models to teach them to control their aggressive and erratic behavior with reason and self control.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs another still assertive oldtimer, I definitely no longer experience the flushing 'rush' of adrenaline in response to any attempt by others to assume a dominant stance in opposition to me. That may be in part the result of taking adrenaline blocking heart meds, but I suspect significantly diminished levels of testosterone also contribute to the general reduction in agressive responses to external simuli.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI suspect, though, that decades under the influence of high testosterone levels have likely affected the structure of 'hardwired' neural networks and resulting thought patterns. I do suffer less from road rage, but its influence has not been entirely eliminated - I can now usually control my reactions...
Having reviously received testosterone replacement, I can vouch that when my levels have been too high, I become like a raging bull.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThat said, you might want to run a spell-checker on the title...
didn't they say that testosterone and the resulting overzealous competitive risk taking was a major contributor to various stock market crashes including US 2008 ?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo what the HELL are you trying to say woman??? Sorry, I reckon my testosterone was to high.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this...and I wasn't looking into your eyes to see your anger toward men. Sorry, that testosterone thing again. I think I should go get some estrogen injections.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDuh? Any dude could tell you this..
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisjust because you have less T, doesn't mean your tolerance for arrogance and a complete disregard for right and wrong goes away. Those are things are parents taught us (hopefully) long before testosterone entered the picture). Be careful though, the dems will see this and soon want to be outlawing sticks (sorry, democrats are the leaders behind gun control and very soon stick control-I think most republicans are idiots as well).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCouldn't agree more. Threat detection is necessarily aggressive.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere have also been multiple recent studies that show that the traditional belief that testosterone causes aggression is misguided.
Probably not. Yours is a common reaction when helpless before a superior force.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat a sad sad world this will be when testosterone is seen as a negative.
@ultimobo - Just for posterity - Yes, they did say that. But they were spinning. Fibbing. Lying.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe crash was caused by systematic fraud on a vast scale. We think of crime as a young man's game, but, with financial crime, carefully thought out, that's not so true. In the case of the derivatives crash, bribes to congress had removed the laws under which the fraudsters could be prosecuted. In other words, the crimes were carefully prepared and executed, no one was prosecuted, and the criminals got away with hundreds of billions of dollars.