Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39671693›Full record

ArticleSocial cognitive and affective neuroscience2024

No evidence for an association of testosterone and cortisol hair concentrations with social decision-making in a large cohort of young adults.

Claudia Massaccesi, Lydia Johnson-Ferguson, Josua Zimmermann, Alexander Ehlert, Markus R Baumgartner, Tina M Binz, Denis Ribeaud, Manuel P Eisner, Lilly Shanahan, Heiko Rahut and 1 more

Erratum issuedAbstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Investigating the effects of single-dose intranasal testosterone on economic preferences in a large randomized trial of men.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Trial
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Claudia MassaccesiDepartment of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1010, Austria.ORCID 0000-0003-0519-6324
Lydia Johnson-FergusonExperimental and Clinical Pharmacopsychology, Department of Adult Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich 8032, Switzerland.
Josua ZimmermannExperimental and Clinical Pharmacopsychology, Department of Adult Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich 8032, Switzerland.
Alexander EhlertInstitute of Sociology, University of Zurich, Zurich 8050, Switzerland.
Markus R BaumgartnerCenter for Forensic Hair Analytics, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich 8057, Switzerland.
Tina M BinzCenter for Forensic Hair Analytics, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich 8057, Switzerland.
Denis RibeaudJacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich, Zurich 8050, Switzerland.
Manuel P EisnerJacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich, Zurich 8050, Switzerland.
Lilly ShanahanJacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich, Zurich 8050, Switzerland.
Heiko RahutInstitute of Sociology, University of Zurich, Zurich 8050, Switzerland.
Boris B QuednowExperimental and Clinical Pharmacopsychology, Department of Adult Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich 8032, Switzerland.

Funding

Austria's Agency for Education and InternationalisationJacobs CenterSwiss National Science Foundation 10001A_176333 105314_214979 10531C_189008 10FI14_170409 10FI17_198052 320030L_179450 BSSGIO_155981
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Prior research has established that testosterone is an important modulator of social decision-making. However, evidence on the relationship between basal testosterone levels, commonly measured in saliva or blood, and social behavior has been inconsistent due to methodological shortcomings. Additionally, it has been suggested that cortisol might moderate the association between basal testosterone and social behavior. The present study examined how individual differences in cumulative hair testosterone map onto social decision-making under consideration of a potential modulating role of hair cortisol in a large community sample of young adults (N = 1002). We observed a negative association between hair testosterone and trust behavior (odds ratio = 0.84) and a positive association with self-reported aggressive behavior (β = 0.08). The effects were small and became nonsignificant after controlling for key covariates of steroid hormones in hair (e.g. hair color, contraceptives, and use of psychoactive substances). Hair testosterone levels were not significantly associated with any other social behavior examined, and no modulating effects of hair cortisol were found. Overall, these findings provide no evidence for a role of basal testosterone hair concentrations in human social decision-making and do not indicate that hair cortisol moderates hair testosterone's effects on social behavior.

Indexed as

Decision MakingHairHydrocortisoneSocial BehaviorTestosteroneAdolescentAdultAggressionCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMaleTrustYoung AdultHydrocortisoneTestosteronecortisolhair hormonesprosocial behaviorsocial decision-makingtestosterone

Identifiers

PMID39671693
PMCPMC11642610

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.