Pair-bonding, fatherhood, and the role of testosterone: A meta-analytic review

Grebe, Nicholas M.; Sarafin, Ruth E.; Strenth, Chance; Zilioli, Samuele

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.01.010

Cited by 79 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 106 publications

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“…Testosterone (T) is a sex hormone associated with physical and psychological androgenization 26 . It has been well described that T activates male mating behavior in several species, including humans 27,28 . However, T is also of special interest in the study of aggression and cooperation because it influences the brain in situations strongly associated with the struggle for status 9,29 .…”

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confidence: 99%

The Male Warrior Hypothesis: Testosterone-related Cooperation and Aggression in the Context of Intergroup Conflict

Muñoz-Reyes

Polo

Valenzuela

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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The Male Warrior Hypothesis (MWH) establishes that men's psychology has been shaped by intergroup competition to acquire and protect reproductive resources. In this context, sex-specific selective pressures would have favored cooperation with the members of one's group in combination with hostility towards outsiders. We investigate the role of developmental testosterone, as measured indirectly through static markers of prenatal testosterone (2D:4D digit ratio) and pubertal testosterone (body musculature and facial masculinity), on both cooperation and aggressive behavior in the context of intergroup conflict among men. Supporting the MWH, our results show that the intergroup conflict scenario promotes cooperation within group members and aggression toward outgroup members. Regarding the hormonal underpinnings of this phenomenon, we find that body musculature is positively associated with aggression and cooperation, but only for cooperation when context (intergroup competition) is taken into account. Finally, we did not find evidence that the formidability of the group affected individual rates of aggression or cooperation, controlling for individual characteristics.

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confidence: 99%

The Male Warrior Hypothesis: Testosterone-related Cooperation and Aggression in the Context of Intergroup Conflict

Muñoz-Reyes

Polo

Valenzuela

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…Experimental evidence that exogenous T reduces male parental care in spotted sandpipers (Oring et al, 1989) as well as socially monogamous songbirds (Goymann and Davila, 2017;Ketterson et al, 1992;Van Roo, 2004; but see Lynn, 2008) indicates that high T can inhibit male parental behavior regardless of whether males are the more competitive sex. This idea was supported by a meta-analysis across vertebrates, finding that male parental care predicted T but mating system did not (Hirschenhauser and Oliveira, 2006), and another meta-analysis in humans, finding that fathers have lower T than men without children (Grebe et al, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Testosterone secretion varies in a sex- and stage-specific manner: insights on the regulation of competitive traits from a sex-role reversed species

Lipshutz

Rosvall

2019

Preprint

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Highlights• Hormones in role reversed species can reveal the influence of parental vs gonadal sex • In jacanas, females face stronger intra-sexual competition, and males care for offspring • We examine covariation between testosterone (T) and mating competition • Circulating T is similar in females and incubating males, but higher in copulating males • T levels co-vary with different competitive traits, depending on sex and breeding stage. AbstractTestosterone (T) mediates a variety of traits that function in competition for mates, including territorial aggression, ornaments, armaments, and gametogenesis. The link between T and mating competition has been studied mainly in males, but is less understood in females, who also face selection pressures to compete for mates. Sex-role reversed species, in which females are the more competitive sex, provide a unique perspective on the role of T in promoting competitive traits. We examined whether T co-varies with competitive traits in sexrole reversed Northern Jacanas (Jacana spinosa) during breeding, when females are fertile and males are either seeking copulations or conducting parental care. We collected data on baseline levels of T in circulation in both sexes, and measured a suite of behavioral and morphological traits putatively involved in mating competition. Contrary to nearly all prior work on sex-role reversal, we did not find a significant main effect of sex on T secretion. Instead, females and incubating males had similar levels of T secretion, which were lower than those observed in copulating males. Nevertheless, females had higher expression of a suite of competitive traits, and their T was higher than most tropical birds. In females, T positively correlated with wing spur size, but was uncorrelated with other competitive traits, including aggression. In males, T correlated with facial shield size and body mass, and among copulating males, T also predicted testes mass. These findings suggest that the mechanisms regulating competitive traits vary with reproductive role in ways that are unique from gonadal sex.

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“…Moreover, two recent meta-analyses reported rather small combined effect sizes for the association between fatherhood and testosterone levels (r = .19 in Grebe et al, 2019;g = .27 in Meijer et al, 2019). These findings suggest that additional factors may be associated with the downregulation of testosterone levels.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Especially fathers from intact families who are embracing their future role as fathers may show prenatal rather than postnatal reductions in testosterone levels. Relatedly, it has been shown that men who are more oriented toward their current partnership have lower testosterone levels than men who are less partnership-oriented (Grebe et al, 2019). Studies examining testosterone levels at various time points following the same sample in the period from pregnancy to the postpartum period are badly needed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Testosterone is an androgenic steroid hormone and is generally considered to be unsupportive of sensitive parenting practices, as it is traditionally associated with mating rather than parenting efforts (Bakermans-Kranenburg & van IJzendoorn, 2018). In species where males engage in offspring care, testosterone levels decline during the transition to fatherhood (Gettler, McDade, Feranil, & Kuzawa, 2011;Storey, Walsh, Quinton, & Wynne-Edwards, 2000), even though recent meta-analyses reported unexpectedly small effect sizes for lower testosterone levels among human fathers compared to non-fathers (Grebe, Sarafin, Strenth, & Zilioli, 2019;Meijer, van IJzendoorn, & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2019). Nevertheless, a central hypothesis in endocrine studies of parenting in general and fathering in particular implies that lower testosterone levels allow for more and better caregiving of offspring (Gettler et al, 2011).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Predicting infant–father attachment: the role of pre- and postnatal triadic family alliance and paternal testosterone levels

Witte

Bakermans‐Kranenburg

IJzendoorn

et al. 2019

Attachment & Human Development

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This longitudinal study examined whether prenatal family alliance and prenatal paternal testosterone levels predicted infant-mother and infant-father attachment security and whether this association was mediated by postnatal family alliance and postnatal paternal testosterone levels. In 105 couples expecting their first child, family alliance was assessed in the third trimester of pregnancy with the prenatal version of the Lausanne Trilogue Play (LTP). Family alliance was measured again 6 months postnatally, using the LTP. Fathers provided testosterone samples prenatally and at 6 months postnatally. Infantparent attachment was assessed with the Attachment Q-Sort (AQS) at 24 months. Results indicated an increase in paternal testosterone levels from the pre-to the postnatal period. A more positive prenatal family alliance predicted higher infant-father attachment security at 24 months, but not infant-mother attachment security. The association between prenatal family alliance and attachment security was not mediated by postnatal family alliance or postnatal paternal testosterone levels. This study highlights the significance of prenatal family relations, and the need to consider in research and practice the divergent effects of prenatal family alliance patterns on the emerging infant-mother and infant-father attachment relationships. The underlying hormonal mechanisms during the transition to fatherhood are important targets for future research.

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Pair-bonding, fatherhood, and the role of testosterone: A meta-analytic review

Cited by 79 publications

References 106 publications

The Male Warrior Hypothesis: Testosterone-related Cooperation and Aggression in the Context of Intergroup Conflict

The Male Warrior Hypothesis: Testosterone-related Cooperation and Aggression in the Context of Intergroup Conflict

Testosterone secretion varies in a sex- and stage-specific manner: insights on the regulation of competitive traits from a sex-role reversed species

Predicting infant–father attachment: the role of pre- and postnatal triadic family alliance and paternal testosterone levels

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