Opposing Roles of Testosterone and Cortisol in Prosocial Risk-Taking

Prosocial risk-taking is defined as engagement in altruistic behaviors that may have personal costs. Emerging research indicates that testosterone-a gonadal steroid hormone-is linked to behaviors aimed at promoting one's social status. In line with these findings, we hypothesized that testosterone levels would be associated positively with prosocial risk-taking. Additionally, according to the dual-hormone hypothesis, this relationship may be moderated by cortisol. To examine these hypotheses, we administered an adapted version of the probabilistic gambling task, which included a prosocial condition. In the original task, participants were the beneficiaries of their choices; under the prosocial condition, the benefits were directed to charitable organizations. Our results revealed that, consistent with previous findings, the endogenous testosterone level was associated positively with risk-taking for personal gain. Notably, we also observed an association between the endogenous testosterone level and prosocial risk-taking. These relationships were not moderated by cortisol, meaning that the dual-hormone hypothesis was not supported. Instead, elevated cortisol independently suppressed prosocial risk-taking. Collectively, these results demonstrate that basal testosterone and cortisol levels play different roles in the modulation of prosocial risk-taking behavior.