Testosterone increases risk-taking for status but not for money

Abstract

Testosterone has long been thought to increase risk-taking, but evidence supporting this association is mixed. Instead, testosterone’s key role may be to promote status-seeking behaviors. Here, we examined to what extent testosterone administration affects risk preferences for both monetary and social status outcomes, and whether this relationship is moderated by an individuals’ social status. Male participants (N=166) experienced high or low status in a competition task and then played two risk tasks; one involving gambles with only monetary outcomes, and another one involving gambles with non-monetary outcomes that influenced their social rank. We found that testosterone (vs. placebo) altered risk preferences for gains and losses in social rank, but not for monetary gains and losses. Specifically, testosterone increased risk-taking to increase social rank in individuals with high, but not low social status. These results demonstrate a context-dependent role of testosterone in regulating risk-taking for social status.