In both sexes, aggression has been described as a critical trait to acquire social status. Still, almost uniquely in men, the link between aggressiveness and the genetic background of testosterone sensitivity measured from the polymorphism in the androgen receptor (AR) gene has been previously investigated. We assessed the relevance of the AR gene to understand aggression and how aggressiveness affects social status in a cross-sectional study of 195 participants, for the first time in both young men and women. We estimated polymorphism sequences from saliva and measured aggression and self-perceived social status. Unfortunately, the results did not support our prediction because we did not find any of the expected relationships. Therefore, the results suggest that the genetic association between aggressive mechanisms and polymorphism of the AR gene is less straightforward than expected, at least in men, and seems to indicate that aggression is not usually used to gain social status in our population.

y uncommitted relationships and long-term mating strategies characterized by high investment in the establishment of a committed romantic relationship and parental care (Gangestad & Simpson, 2000). In this context, sociosexuality reflects the individual differences in the willingness to engage in sexual intercourse without a previous bond or commitment (Simpson & Gangestad, 1992). In a more recent conceptualization, it can be divided, at least, into three components, two attitudinal, which reflect the psychological predisposition toward investing in mating (short-term mating orientation) and parenting (long-term mating orientation), and the other behavioral, which refers to the number of past sexual partners (Jackson & Kirkpatrick, 2007). Sociosexuality has been associated with mating and parenting efforts (Valentova et al., 2020) and with traits denoting fast or slow life histories (Patch & Figueredo, 2017); therefore, it is considered a reliable proxy to assess reproductive strategies in humans.