Testosterone and cortisol moderate perception of mild psychosocial stress in young males

According to the context-dependent dual-hormone hypothesis, higher testosterone levels are associated with status-seeking when cortisol levels are low, and with status-loss avoidance when cortisol levels are high. Given that socially stressful situations may be perceived as status threats, the evaluation of such situations may also be influenced by testosterone, with cortisol moderating this effect. Furthermore, although cortisol is important for coping with negative emotions, its effects may be moderated by testosterone due to its inhibitory influence on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate whether basal levels (measured before stress induction) of testosterone and cortisol are related to the evaluation of subsequent stressful experiences. We induced mild psychosocial stress in 37 healthy young males, who rated the stressfulness of the task on a visual analog scale. Saliva samples were collected to assess basal testosterone and cortisol levels. We hypothesized that higher basal testosterone levels would be related to lower stress perception in low-cortisol males and to higher stress perception in high-cortisol males. We also conducted exploratory analyses of cortisol effects and testosterone moderation. The results revealed that higher basal testosterone was linked to lower stress perception in low-cortisol males, consistent with the context-dependent dual-hormone hypothesis. However, robust testosterone effects were not observed when cortisol levels were high. Meanwhile, higher basal cortisol levels were associated with lower stress perception in males with lower testosterone levels. These findings emphasize the importance of considering the interactive effects of testosterone and cortisol in understanding stress perception.