Testosterone Does Not Always Contributes to Aggressive Behavior in Humans

Testosterone, notorious for being the “aggression hormone” may not be so frightening after all. A study published in “Nature” clarifies the wrong concept many people have had against the testosterone hormone and suggests that instead of generating aggression, it leads to a more calm, happy and friendly behavior among the users. However, many people may feel more energetic and forceful by knowing the fact that they are “using” testosterone supplements, but testosterone itself is not a cause.

Testosterone is a hormone produced in the male testes and female ovaries that is responsible for brain development and sexual behavior, and many researchers deem it to be more balanced and neutral in nature. That is, a person on testosterone may become a bit aggressive depending on the situation they’re in. but apart from that, testosterone flow may make people more cooperative and pleasant in behavior.

For one study, 121 women were told to play a game called “ultimate bargaining” in which one woman offers specific amount of money to another, and the other woman can either reject or accept that offer. On rejecting, neither party gets the money. Before the women offer money, they were given a dose of testosterone or placebo.

The results showed that instead of offering less money, women with testosterone made considerable higher offers than the ones given placebo. Moreover, the researchers observed that women who supposedly believed they had received testosterone behaved voracious and made greedy offers. This concluded that it is not actually the hormone, but the falsehood linked with the hormone that causes such behavior.

To recap this discussion, we can’t really say whether or not testosterone leads to aggression. But one thing is visible; in order to understand the real impact of testosterone hormone we must do extensive research and consult the concerned doctor for proper guidelines.