Citation

Geniole SN, Carré JM. Horm. Behav. 2018; 104: 192-205.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Nipissing University, 100 College Drive, North Bay, Ontario P1B 8L7, Canada. Electronic address: justinca@nipissingu.ca.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.yhbeh.2018.06.001

PMID

29885343

Abstract

It is well documented that testosterone concentrations change rapidly within reproductively relevant contexts (e.g., competition, mate-seeking). It has been argued that such rapid changes in testosterone may serve to adaptively fine-tune ongoing and/or future social behaviour according to one's social environment. In this paper, we review human correlational and experimental evidence suggesting that testosterone fluctuates rapidly in response to competition and mate-seeking cues, and that such acute changes may serve to modulate ongoing and/or future social behaviours (e.g., risk-taking, competitiveness, mate-seeking, and aggression). Some methodological details, which limit interpretation of some of this human work, are also discussed. We conclude with a new integrative model of testosterone secretion and behaviour, the Fitness Model of Testosterone Dynamics. Although we focus primarily on human aggression in this review, but we also highlight research on risk-taking, competitiveness, and mate-seeking behaviour.

Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Language: en