Exogenous testosterone decreases men's sensitivity to vocal cues of male dominance

Abstract

Assessing dominance is important for effective social interactions, and prior research suggests that testosterone is associated with men's dominance perceptions. The present study tested for a causal effect of exogenous testosterone on men's sensitivity to vocal cues of other men's dominance, an important parameter in male-male competition across species. One hundred and thirty-nine Chinese men received a single dose (150 mg) of testosterone or placebo gel in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, between-participant design. Participants reported their own dominance and judged other men's dominance from voices. Men's dominance sensitivity was significantly weaker in the testosterone group compared to those in the placebo group.Moreover, men's dominance sensitivity was negatively associated with their self-reported dominance in our Chinese sample, consistent with findings from Western populations. These results indicate that exogenous testosterone has a causal effect in decreasing men's dominance sensitivity, consistent with the Challenge Hypothesis, suggesting that the fluctuation of testosterone concentration mediates individuals' behaviors. Additionally, the present study could motivate further work on vocal assessment in the context of competition in humans and other species.

Hearing the physical condition: The relationship between sexually dimorphic vocal traits and underlying physiology

“…While these studies have provided further insight into the human voice and physiological signs, some conclusions remain divergent and need to be further expanded, deepened and refined. In addition, it is likely that the more consistent social evaluation of voice may also suggest that it is based on certain biological characteristics, for example, a low voice is often perceived as coming from a tall and powerful person, and therefore is easily perceived as a high dominant voice ( Banai et al, 2017 ; Han et al, 2021 ). It is expected that the study of the social and physiological correspondence between the social evaluation of the voice will receive increasing attention.…”

Low competitive status elicits aggression in healthy young men: behavioural and neural evidence

“…, 2020 ; Wu et al. , 2020 ; Han et al. , 2021 ) and that competitive situations inherently invoke the use of aggressive strategies ( Waddell and Peng, 2014 ; Dowsett and Jackson, 2019 ), testosterone might increase competitive aggression by modulating neural reactivity to status signals.…”

Low competitive status elicits aggression in healthy young men: behavioral and neural evidence

“…Similarly, men with relatively higher testosterone concentrations punished unfair offers more severely, but rewarded fair offers more generously (Dreher et al, 2016). Given that hightestosterone individuals are generally more sensitive to status cues (Josephs et al, 2006;Wagels et al, 2018;Losecaat-Vermeer et al, 2020;Wu et al, 2020;Han et al, 2021), and that competitive situations inherently invoke the use of aggressive strategies (Waddell and Peng, 2014;Dowsett and Jackson, 2019), testosterone might increase competitive aggression by modulating neural reactivity to status signals. Specifically, both preparatory and victory-contingent testosterone surges can induce competitive aggression by activating core neural structures of the threat-and reward-processing systems (i.e., amygdala and VS respectively) (Geniole and Carré, 2018).…”