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In humans (and other animals), testosterone plays a role in driving increased aggression, violent behavior, and status drive.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20160109111144/http://www.homepage.psy.utexas.edu/HomePage/faculty/josephs/pdf_documents/Arch_Chall_NBR.pdf</ref>  
In humans (and other animals), testosterone plays a role in driving increased aggression, violent behavior, and status drive.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20160109111144/http://www.homepage.psy.utexas.edu/HomePage/faculty/josephs/pdf_documents/Arch_Chall_NBR.pdf</ref>  
Many studies that examine the effects of testosterone (and other hormones) on psychology are deeply flawed as they do not take these inter-hormone interactions into account, do not use particularly reliable measures of testosterone, have low sample sizes, do not take into account interindividual differences in sensitivity to androgens, and do not take into account the effects prenatal and pubertal 'priming' may have on shaping the body's response to testosterone in adulthood. Adult T-levels are also substantially affected by lifestyle factors <ref>https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/92/2/549/2566787?login=true</ref><ref>https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1019.6064&rep=rep1&type=pdf</ref> such as age, smoking, body fat percentage and general health.
There has been a secular decline in testosterone in Western countries that is independent of factors such as population aging and increased obesity,<ref>https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/92/1/196/2598434?login=true</ref> leading to sensationalist headlines regarding rampant [[soyboy|feminization]] of men being driven by this factor alone. However, other longitudinal studies have found concurrent evidence that sex-hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), a protein that binds to testosterone and makes it inert in the body, has also been decreasing on a population and cohort level.<ref>https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/92/12/4696/2597312?login=true</ref>
If this finding proves robust, this reduction in SHBG would result in less negative feedback being exerted on men's hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (HPG axis), which would lead to the body downregulating T production as it essentially needs less to produce the desired effects. Meaning the secular decrease in T wouldn't be particularly relevant in driving any practical differences in population level masculinization.
==T and social dominance==
In many animals, testosterone has a positive relationship to [[dominance hierarchy|male dominance status]].<ref>https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajpa.20387</ref><ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0018506X0800161X</ref>
In many animals, testosterone has a positive relationship to [[dominance hierarchy|male dominance status]].<ref>https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajpa.20387</ref><ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0018506X0800161X</ref>
In humans the link between testosterone and male dominance status is more tenuous, with several studies finding no link between T levels and achieved social rank,<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306453016301780</ref><ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886910001406</ref> though it does seem to be linked with dominant behavior and heightened attentiveness to social cues pertaining to dominance rank to some degree.<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40750-014-0020-2#Sec3</ref><ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364661311000787</ref><ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0018506X20301975</ref><ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0018506X16305050</ref><ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306453016304292</ref>
In humans the link between testosterone and male dominance status is more tenuous, with several studies finding no link between T levels and achieved social rank,<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306453016301780</ref><ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886910001406</ref> though it does seem to be linked with dominant behavior and heightened attentiveness to social cues pertaining to dominance rank to some degree.<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40750-014-0020-2#Sec3</ref><ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364661311000787</ref><ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0018506X20301975</ref><ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0018506X16305050</ref><ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306453016304292</ref>
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Testosterone also very likely does not mediate any of these status-seeking behaviors on its own to a substantial degree, as interactions with other hormones such as cortisol,<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030645301500400X</ref> estrogen, prolactin, and various neurotransmitters such as serotonin<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-011-9264-3</ref> appear crucial in driving many of the behaviors linked to "high-T" in the popular imagination.
Testosterone also very likely does not mediate any of these status-seeking behaviors on its own to a substantial degree, as interactions with other hormones such as cortisol,<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030645301500400X</ref> estrogen, prolactin, and various neurotransmitters such as serotonin<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-011-9264-3</ref> appear crucial in driving many of the behaviors linked to "high-T" in the popular imagination.
Many studies that examine the effects of testosterone (and other hormones) on psychology are deeply flawed as they do not take these inter-hormone interactions into account, do not use particularly reliable measures of testosterone, have low sample sizes, do not take into account interindividual differences in sensitivity to androgens, and do not take into account the effects prenatal and pubertal 'priming' may have on shaping the body's response to testosterone in adulthood. Adult T-levels are also substantially affected by lifestyle factors <ref>https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/92/2/549/2566787?login=true</ref><ref>https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1019.6064&rep=rep1&type=pdf</ref> such as age, smoking, body fat percentage and general health.
There has been a secular decline in testosterone in Western countries that is independent of factors such as population aging and increased obesity,<ref>https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/92/1/196/2598434?login=true</ref> leading to sensationalist headlines regarding rampant [[soyboy|feminization]] of men being driven by this factor alone. However, other longitudinal studies have found concurrent evidence that sex-hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), a protein that binds to testosterone and makes it inert in the body, has also been decreasing on a population and cohort level.<ref>https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/92/12/4696/2597312?login=true</ref>
If this finding proves robust, this reduction in SHBG would result in less negative feedback being exerted on men's hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (HPG axis), which would lead to the body downregulating T production as it essentially needs less to produce the desired effects. Meaning the secular decrease in T wouldn't be particularly relevant in driving any practical differences in population level masculinization.
==Dual hormone hypothesis==
==Dual hormone hypothesis==
Many people associate testosterone with male sex drive, however, increased testosterone shows no relation to increased male sexual desire (with the concurrent presence of high cortisol levels). However, it is important to note that androgens generally have the effect of inhibiting cortisol release.
Many people associate testosterone with male sex drive, however, increased testosterone shows no relation to increased male sexual desire (with the concurrent presence of high cortisol levels). However, it is important to note that androgens generally have the effect of inhibiting cortisol release.
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