Testosterone, Cortisol and Empathy: Evidence for the Dual-Hormone Hypothesis

Abstract

The dual hormone hypothesis posits that basal cortisol and testosterone have a joint effect on motivational and behavioral systems implicated in dominance and aggression, such that traits generally associated with high testosterone manifest more in individuals with low basal cortisol levels. Whether this hypothesis applies to behavioral systems other than dominance remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the association between basal testosterone, basal cortisol, and empathy in a large population of MBA students. Empathy was assessed with a short version of the Davis's Interpersonal Reactivity Index and with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). Higher testosterone was predictive of lower empathy scores among men and women with low basal cortisol, while this association was reversed among individuals with high cortisol levels. In other words, a high-testosterone profile was found to be predictive of both high and low empathic dispositions depending on the concomitant HPA state. The effect was limited to self-reported empathy as no association was found with the RMET. This pattern of results, which emerged when data for men and women were analyzed together, remained significant only for men when analyses were run separately for the two sexes. These results add empathy to the list of behaviors regulated by the joint action of testosterone and cortisol, as outlined by the dual hormone hypothesis.

Effect of Educational Intervention on Empowering the Sense of Empathy in Medical Students: Application of Health Belief Model

“…In the context of the relationship between empathy and gender, in almost all relevant studies, empathy was significantly higher in women than in men (25)(26)(27), but in the present study, the level of empathy among male and female physicians was 110.5 and 110.1, respectively, which did not show any significant difference.…”

Salivary testosterone and cortisol are jointly related to pro-environmental behavior in men

“…Conversely, in subjects with high cortisol the relationship between testosterone and aggressive or dominant behavior was non-existent Edwards & Casto, 2013;Pfattheicher et al, 2014;Popma et al, 2007), or even reversed (Mehta & Josephs, 2010). In addition, and of particular importance for the current hypotheses, one recent study found a reversed testosterone x cortisol interaction effect on self-reported empathy as a positive social behavior (Zilioli, Ponzi, Henry, & Maestripieri, 2014). Particularly, testosterone was negatively related to empathy among subjects with low cortisol, whereas this relationship was positive among individuals with high cortisol.…”

The dual-hormone hypothesis: a brief review and future research agenda

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