Exogenous Testosterone Increases Men's Perceptions of Their Own Physical Dominance

Highlights

• Testosterone or a placebo was administered to healthy adult men using a within-subjects design.
• Self-perceptions of physical dominance were assessed using a novel ‘pick-your-own-face’ task.
• Men picked a more dominant-looking version of their own face after testosterone versus placebo.
• The effect that was particularly pronounced among men with relatively low baseline testosterone.
• Exogenous testosterone can modulate men’s perceptions of their own physical dominance.

Men's testosterone is associated with several constructs that are linked to dominance rank, such as risk-taking, mating success, and aggression. However, no study has directly tested the relationship between men's self-perceived dominance and testosterone using an experimental design. 

We employed a within-subjects, double-blind, placebo-controlled paradigm to assess whether testosterone influences men's self-perceived dominance. Exogenous testosterone or a placebo was administered to healthy adult men and self-perceptions of physical dominance were subsequently assessed by having participants select what they believed to be their true face from an array of images digitally manipulated in masculinity. Men picked a more masculine version of their own face after testosterone versus placebo-an effect that was particularly pronounced among men with relatively low baseline testosterone. 

These findings indicate that a single administration of testosterone can rapidly modulate men's perceptions of their own physical dominance, which may explain links between testosterone and dominance-related behaviors.

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By:   Welling LL1, Moreau BJ2, Bird BM3, Hansen S4, Carré JM5.

• 1Department of Psychology, Oakland University, 2200 N. Squirrel Road, Rochester, MI 48309, USA. Electronic address: welling@oakland.edu.
• 2Department of Psychology, Nipissing University, 100 College Drive, Box 5002, North Bay, ON P1B 8L7, Canada. Electronic address: benm@nipissingu.ca.
• 3Department of Psychology, Laurentian University, 935 Ramsey Lake Road, Sudbury, ON P3E 2C6, Canada. Electronic address: bbird@laurentian.ca.
• 4Physical and Health Education, Nipissing University, 100 College Drive, Box 5002, North Bay, ON P1B 8L7, Canada. Electronic address: steveh@nipissingu.ca.
• 5Department of Psychology, Nipissing University, 100 College Drive, Box 5002, North Bay, ON P1B 8L7, Canada. Electronic address: justinca@nipissingu.ca. 

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