Testosterone reduces the threat premium in competitive resource division

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Behavioral Endocrinology

Background:

• Humans, like other animals, assess facial threat cues for competitive decision-making.
• Individuals tend to cede more resources to perceived high-threat individuals.
• Biological underpinnings of threat assessment in decision-making remain largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of testosterone in modulating threat-based competitive decision-making in men.
• To determine if testosterone administration alters resource allocation in response to perceived threat.

Main Methods:

• A pre-registered, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study involving 118 men.
• Testosterone administration versus placebo.
• Assessment of resource allocation decisions based on perceived individual threat levels.

Main Results:

• Replication of the 'threat premium' effect: participants ceded more resources to high-threat individuals.
• Testosterone administration blunted this threat premium.
• Testosterone selectively reduced resource allocation to the highest-threat individuals.

Conclusions:

• Testosterone influences competitive decision-making by recalibrating the integration of threat cues.
• This hormonal effect suggests a modulation of the balance between competition and threat avoidance.