Data from: Testosterone reduces the threat premium in competitive resource division

Like other animals, humans are sensitive to facial cues of threat. Recent
evidence suggests that we use this information to dynamically calibrate
competitive decision-making over resources, ceding more to high threat
individuals (who appear more willing/able to retaliate) and keeping more
from low threat individuals. Little is known, however, about the
biological factors that support such threat assessment and decision-making
systems. In a pre-registered, placebo-controlled, cross-over testosterone
administration study (n = 118 men), we show for the first time that
testosterone reduces the effects of threat on decision-making:
participants ceded more resources to high (vs low) threat individuals
(replicating the “threat premium”), but this effect was blunted by
testosterone—which selectively reduced the amount of resources ceded to
those highest in threat. Thus, our findings suggest that testosterone
influences competitive decision-making by recalibrating the integration of
threat into the decision-making process.