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Testosterone reduces conscious detection of signals serving social correction: implications for antisocial behavior.
Psychol Sci. 2007 Aug; 18(8):663-7.PS

Abstract

Elevated levels of testosterone have repeatedly been associated with antisocial behavior, but the psychobiological mechanisms underlying this effect are unknown. However, testosterone is evidently capable of altering the processing of facial threat, and facial signals of fear and anger serve sociality through their higher-level empathy-provoking and socially corrective properties. We investigated the hypothesis that testosterone predisposes people to antisocial behavior by reducing conscious recognition of facial threat. In a within-subjects design, testosterone (0.5 mg) or placebo was administered to 16 female volunteers. Afterward, a task with morphed stimuli indexed their sensitivity for consciously recognizing the facial expressions of threat (disgust, fear, and anger) and nonthreat (surprise, sadness, and happiness). Testosterone induced a significant reduction in the conscious recognition of facial threat overall. Separate analyses for the three categories of threat faces indicated that this effect was reliable for angry facial expressions exclusively. This testosterone-induced impairment in the conscious detection of the socially corrective facial signal of anger may predispose individuals to antisocial behavior.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

van Honk J
Department of Psychology, Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. j.vanhonk@fss.uu.nl
Schutter DJ
No affiliation info available

MeSH

AdultAngerAntisocial Personality DisorderConsciousnessCross-Over StudiesDouble-Blind MethodEmotionsFacial ExpressionFemaleHumansRecognition, PsychologyReference ValuesSocial PerceptionTask Performance and AnalysisTestosterone

Pub Type(s)

Clinical Trial
Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

17680933

Citation

van Honk, Jack, and Dennis J L G. Schutter. "Testosterone Reduces Conscious Detection of Signals Serving Social Correction: Implications for Antisocial Behavior." Psychological Science, vol. 18, no. 8, 2007, pp. 663-7.
van Honk J, Schutter DJ. Testosterone reduces conscious detection of signals serving social correction: implications for antisocial behavior. Psychol Sci. 2007;18(8):663-7.
van Honk, J., & Schutter, D. J. (2007). Testosterone reduces conscious detection of signals serving social correction: implications for antisocial behavior. Psychological Science, 18(8), 663-7.
van Honk J, Schutter DJ. Testosterone Reduces Conscious Detection of Signals Serving Social Correction: Implications for Antisocial Behavior. Psychol Sci. 2007;18(8):663-7. PubMed PMID: 17680933.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Testosterone reduces conscious detection of signals serving social correction: implications for antisocial behavior. AU - van Honk,Jack, AU - Schutter,Dennis J L G, PY - 2007/8/8/pubmed PY - 2007/11/6/medline PY - 2007/8/8/entrez SP - 663 EP - 7 JF - Psychological science JO - Psychol Sci VL - 18 IS - 8 N2 - Elevated levels of testosterone have repeatedly been associated with antisocial behavior, but the psychobiological mechanisms underlying this effect are unknown. However, testosterone is evidently capable of altering the processing of facial threat, and facial signals of fear and anger serve sociality through their higher-level empathy-provoking and socially corrective properties. We investigated the hypothesis that testosterone predisposes people to antisocial behavior by reducing conscious recognition of facial threat. In a within-subjects design, testosterone (0.5 mg) or placebo was administered to 16 female volunteers. Afterward, a task with morphed stimuli indexed their sensitivity for consciously recognizing the facial expressions of threat (disgust, fear, and anger) and nonthreat (surprise, sadness, and happiness). Testosterone induced a significant reduction in the conscious recognition of facial threat overall. Separate analyses for the three categories of threat faces indicated that this effect was reliable for angry facial expressions exclusively. This testosterone-induced impairment in the conscious detection of the socially corrective facial signal of anger may predispose individuals to antisocial behavior. SN - 0956-7976 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/17680933/Testosterone_reduces_conscious_detection_of_signals_serving_social_correction:_implications_for_antisocial_behavior_ L2 - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01955.x?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub=pubmed DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -