Although animal researchers established the role of testosterone as a ‘social hormone’ decades ago, the investigation of its causal influence on human social behaviors has only recently begun. Here, we review and discuss recent studies showing the causal effects of testosterone on social interactions in animals and humans, and outline the basic neurobiological mechanisms that might underlie these effects. Based on these recent findings, we argue that the role of testosterone in human social behavior might be best understood in terms of the search for, and maintenance of, social status.

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Anxiolytic-like actions of testosterone in the burying behavior test: role of androgen and GABA-benzodiazepine receptors.

Estrogen actions in the brain and the basis for differential action in men and women: a case for sex-specific medicines.

Effects of exogenous testosterone on the ventral striatal BOLD response during reward anticipation in healthy women.

Reflexive testosterone release: a model system for studying the nongenomic effects of testosterone upon male behavior.

Expression of testosterone conditioned place preference is blocked by peripheral or intra-accumbens injection of alpha-flupenthixol.

Know your place: neural processing of social hierarchy in humans.

Effect of the cytochrome P450 19 (aromatase) gene polymorphism on personality traits in healthy subjects.

Unique distribution of aromatase in the human brain: in vivo studies with PET and [N-methyl-11C]vorozole.

Imaging of aromatase distribution in rat and rhesus monkey brains with [11C]vorozole.

Exogenous testosterone enhances responsiveness to social threat in the neural circuitry of social aggression in humans.

Endogenous testosterone levels are associated with amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex responses to anger faces in men but not women.

Salivary testosterone and a trinucleotide (CAG) length polymorphism in the androgen receptor gene predict amygdala reactivity in men.

Amygdala activity to fear and anger in healthy young males is associated with testosterone.

Testosterone and human aggression: an evaluation of the challenge hypothesis.

Acute effects of steroid hormones and neuropeptides on human social–emotional behavior: a review of single administration studies.

On the economics and biology of trust.

Expectations of cooperation and competition and their effects on observers’ vicarious emotional responses.

Testosterone reduces unconscious fear but not consciously experienced anxiety: implications for the disorders of fear and anxiety.

Face the beast and fear the face: animal and social fears as prototypes for evolutionary analyses of emotion.

Time course of effects of testosterone administration on sexual arousal in women.

Effects of implicit power motivation on men's and women's implicit learning and testosterone changes after social victory or defeat.

The mismatch effect: when testosterone and status are at odds.

Testosterone change after losing predicts the decision to compete again.

Differential changes in steroid hormones before competition in bonobos and chimpanzees.

Correlations among salivary testosterone, mood, and selective attention to threat in humans.

Testosterone responses to competition predict future aggressive behaviour at a cost to reward in men.

Gender ideology, same-sex peer group affiliation and the relationship between testosterone and dominance in adolescent boys and girls.

CSF testosterone and 5-HIAA correlate with different types of aggressive behaviors.

A randomized trial of the effect of estrogen and testosterone on economic behavior.

Prejudice and truth about the effect of testosterone on human bargaining behaviour.

Testosterone release and social context: when it occurs and why.

The Challenge Hypothesis: theoretical implications for patterns of testosterone secretion, mating systems, and breeding strategies.

Toward an Ecological Basis of Hormone–Behavior Interactions in Reproduction in Birds.

The relation of the interval between castration and 1st encounter to the aggressive behavior of mice.

From molecule to market: steroid hormones and financial risk-taking.

Glossary

behavior with the intent of inflicting physical or psychological harm on another individual.

aggression in defense against predatory aggression.

aggression with the aim of achieving dominance over another individual; for example, during competing for food or valued resources, or in resisting control measures.

the organization of individuals in a group into those that are dominant and those that are submissive, as part of competition for resources. In rodents, competition is aggressive. In non-human primates, status is often allocated by non-aggressive, ritualized gestures, rather than by overt aggression.

the motivation to achieve or maintain high social status; that is, to obtain power, influence, or valued prerogatives over another individual.

aggression directed towards an available target, living or non-living, induced by some sort of frustration event.

aggression aimed at chasing, catching and killing prey.

aggression carried out with a purpose in mind that extends beyond simply harming a victim. It tends to be ‘calculated’ and is characterized by low physiological arousal.

aggression as a defensive response to perceived or actual provocation. It involves retaliation and is characterized by anger and often accompanied by disinhibition, affective instability and high levels of arousal.

aggression between two conspecifics fighting for the right to claim prime hunting grounds, mating rights, or a safe place to rear young.