Evidence and Implications From a Natural Experiment of Prenatal Androgen Effects on Gendered Behavior

Abstract

Sex and gender are key to people’s lives, and are the focus of scientific and popular interest and controversy. Sex-related psychological characteristics reflect more than socialization; they are influenced by sex hormones present during sensitive periods of development, particularly androgens that are present prenatally. Studies of females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) show how prenatal androgens affect behavior across the life span; these hormones have large effects on interest and engagement in gendered activities, moderate effects on spatial abilities, and relatively small (or no) effects on gender identity, gender cognitions, and gendered peer involvement. In addition to showing the complexity of androgens’ effects on gendered behavior, studies of females with CAH provide an opportunity to test theories of gender development, gain insight into how nature and nurture work together, and examine mechanisms of development. The implications of this work have often been misunderstood, so we consider what it means—and does not mean—for biology to influence gender-related behavior.

The pregnancy compensation hypothesis, not the staying alive theory, accounts for disparate autoimmune functioning of women around the world

“…We recognize that human sex is a multidimensional construct influenced by the continuing interplay of biological and environmental components and that the studies we found are limited by including only binary comparisons (Berenbaum & Beltz, 2021;Eliot, 2009;Fausto-Sterling, 2019;. We also acknowledge that many sex differences in specific traits are small, so that sex stereotypes based on single traits mischaracterize the large overlap between the sexes .…”

“…First, sex/gender is a multidimensional construct resulting from the continuing interplay between biological and environmental factors (Berenbaum & Beltz, 2021;Eliot, 2009;Fausto-Sterling, 2019;. Further, some of its important components and related constructs, including epigenetic configurations, hormonal balances, reproductive capacity, gender identity, gender roles, and sexuality, often fluctuate over the 2020); V WHO (2014a) for deaths from injuries, suicides, and homicides (we calculated ORs based on graph).…”

Biologizing Gender: The canalized reproductive axis of gender, not sex.

“…The vastly divergent levels of the sex steroids estrogen and testosterone are well connected to behavior, and the role of testosterone in expressing aggression is definitive. Prenatal exposure to hormones, especially androgens, organizes the brain in ways that contribute to behavior (Berenbaum & Beltz, 2021). Testosterone acts through the interplay between subcortical structures in the amygdala and the hypothalamus (Unger et al, 2015;Batrinos, 2012).…”

“…The dominance of testosterone around birth and at about nine weeks of gestation, results in masculinization of the brain and genital tract (Zuloaga et al, 2009;Wizemann & Pardue, 2001). "The evidence linking early testosterone exposure to sex-type play is particularly robust" (Hines, 2020, p. 37; see also Berenbaum & Beltz 2021), and males of all ages, including prenatally, have substantially higher testosterone levels than females (Lonstein et al, 2014).…”

Sex differences are insufficient evidence of ecological adaptations in human females

“…Across diverse, contemporary human societies, numerous sex differences appear in physiology, behavior, and experiences that often vary in magnitude depending on the culture Berenbaum & Beltz, 2021;Geary, 2021;Wizeman & Pardue, 2001;. An evolutionary explanation for these differences relies on sexual selection theory.…”