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South AJ, Barkus E, Walter EE, Mendonca C, Thomas SJ. Dark Triad Personality Traits, Second-to-Forth Digit Ratio (2D:4D) and Circulating Testosterone and Cortisol Levels. Biol Psychol 2023; 179:108567. [PMID: 37086902 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Revised: 03/05/2023] [Accepted: 04/16/2023] [Indexed: 04/24/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Dark Triad (DT) personality traits (psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism) show sex differences and associations with hormones. Understanding aetiology may assist in mitigating the harm of these potentially adverse characteristics. Low second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) is hypothesised to be a marker of high prenatal testosterone exposure and may provide important information about organisational hormones. The aim of the present study was to measure Dark Triad and Big 5 personality traits in relation to digit ratio, salivary testosterone, and cortisol. METHODS A non-clinical sample (N=268; 49.25% Female, age M25.20 ± 8.77yrs) completed the Short Dark Triad and International Personality Inventory Pool - Mini. Afternoon saliva was analysed for testosterone and cortisol, and 2D:4D finger ratios were measured. RESULTS Males scored higher on DT traits than females. Females scored higher on Big 5 agreeableness and neuroticism. Males had higher testosterone and cortisol levels and lower 2D:4D than females. Digit ratio correlated inversely with salivary testosterone, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Testosterone levels correlated positively with cortisol levels and psychopathy and negatively with agreeableness, neuroticism, and Machiavellianism. CONCLUSIONS These results provide indications that Machiavellianism and psychopathy (Dark Triad) traits, but not narcissism or Big 5 traits, are linked to markers of prenatal testosterone exposure. Results also replicate sex differences seen in 2D:4D digit ratios, with males having a shorter second-relative-to-forth finger. Links between circulating testosterone, digit ratios, cortisol and personality traits provide further information about potential biological bases of personality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra J South
- Graduate School of Medicine, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia, 2522; School of Psychology, Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia, 2522; Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, Wollongong, NSW, Australia, 2522.
| | - Emma Barkus
- School of Psychology, Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia, 2522; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
| | - Emma E Walter
- School of Psychology, Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia, 2522; School of Psychology, Western Sydney University, Bankstown, NSW, Australia, 2214.
| | - Carley Mendonca
- School of Psychology, Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia, 2522
| | - Susan J Thomas
- Graduate School of Medicine, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia, 2522; Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, Wollongong, NSW, Australia, 2522.
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Armstrong TA, Boisvert DL, Wells J, Lewis RH, Cooke EM, Woeckener M, Kavish N, Vietto N, Harper JM. Testosterone, cortisol, and criminal behavior in men and women. Horm Behav 2022; 146:105260. [PMID: 36122515 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2022.105260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Revised: 09/01/2022] [Accepted: 09/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Only two studies to date have considered the joint effects of testosterone and cortisol on direct measures of criminal behavior. The current study extends this earlier work by incorporating the direct and interactive effects of baseline hormone measures and hormone change scores in response to social stress. The current study also extends prior work by considering distinct measures of different criminal behavior types and sex differences. Analyses based on a large sample of undergraduates indicated that testosterone had a positive and statistically significant association with impulsive and violent criminal behavior. The interaction of testosterone with cortisol had a negative association with income generating crime. Simple slopes analyses of this interaction indicated testosterone had a positive association with income generating crime when cortisol was low (-1 SD). Associations between hormones and criminal behavior were not moderated by sex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Todd A Armstrong
- School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Nebraska-Omaha, 6001 Dodge St, Omaha, NE 68182, USA.
| | - Danielle L Boisvert
- Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Sam Houston State University, 1905 University Ave, Huntsville, TX 77340, USA.
| | - Jessica Wells
- Department of Criminal Justice, Boise State University, 1910 W University Dr, Boise, ID 83725, USA.
| | - Richard H Lewis
- Department of Criminal Justice, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2801 S. University Ave, Little Rock, AR 72204, USA.
| | - Eric M Cooke
- Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, 116 St & 85 Ave, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada.
| | - Matthias Woeckener
- Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Sam Houston State University, 1905 University Ave, Huntsville, TX 77340, USA
| | - Nicholas Kavish
- Department of Psychology and Philosophy, Sam Houston State University, 1905 University Ave, Huntsville, TX 77340, USA.
| | - Nicholas Vietto
- School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Nebraska-Omaha, 6001 Dodge St, Omaha, NE 68182, USA
| | - James M Harper
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University, 1905 University Ave, Huntsville, TX 77340, USA.
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Estimating the Associations between Big Five Personality Traits, Testosterone, and Cortisol. ADAPTIVE HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND PHYSIOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s40750-020-00159-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
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Lausen A, Broering C, Penke L, Schacht A. Hormonal and modality specific effects on males' emotion recognition ability. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2020; 119:104719. [PMID: 32544773 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2019] [Revised: 05/11/2020] [Accepted: 05/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Successful emotion recognition is a key component of human socio-emotional communication skills. However, little is known about the factors impacting males' accuracy in emotion recognition tasks. This pre-registered study examined potential candidates, focusing on the modality of stimulus presentation, emotion category and individual baseline hormone levels. In an additional exploratory analysis, we examined the association of testosterone x cortisol interaction with recognition accuracy and reaction times. We obtained accuracy and reaction time scores from 282 males who categorized voice, face and voice-face stimuli for nonverbal emotional content. Results showed that recognition accuracy was significantly higher in the audio-visual than in the auditory or visual modality. While Spearman's rank correlations showed no significant association of testosterone (T) with recognition accuracy or with response times for specific emotions, the logistic and linear regression models uncovered some evidence for a positive association between T and recognition accuracy as well as between cortisol (C) and reaction time. In addition, the overall effect size of T by C interaction with recognition accuracy and reaction time was significant, but small. Our results establish that audio-visual congruent stimuli enhance recognition accuracy and provide novel empirical support by showing that the interaction of testosterone and cortisol relates to males' accuracy and response times in emotion recognition tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adi Lausen
- Department of Affective Neuroscience and Psychophysiology, Institute of Psychology, University of Goettingen, 37073 Goettingen, Germany; Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom; Leibniz ScienceCampus "Primate Cognition", 37077 Goettingen, Germany.
| | - Christina Broering
- Department of Affective Neuroscience and Psychophysiology, Institute of Psychology, University of Goettingen, 37073 Goettingen, Germany; Department of Psychology, Private University of Applied Sciences (PFH) Goettingen, 37073 Goettingen, Germany
| | - Lars Penke
- Department of Biological Personality Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Goettingen, 37073 Goettingen, Germany; Leibniz ScienceCampus "Primate Cognition", 37077 Goettingen, Germany
| | - Annekathrin Schacht
- Department of Affective Neuroscience and Psychophysiology, Institute of Psychology, University of Goettingen, 37073 Goettingen, Germany; Leibniz ScienceCampus "Primate Cognition", 37077 Goettingen, Germany
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Knight EL, Sarkar A, Prasad S, Mehta PH. Beyond the challenge hypothesis: The emergence of the dual-hormone hypothesis and recommendations for future research. Horm Behav 2020; 123:104657. [PMID: 31863735 PMCID: PMC7311256 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2019] [Revised: 12/12/2019] [Accepted: 12/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The challenge hypothesis makes specific predictions about the association between testosterone and status-seeking behaviors, but the findings linking testosterone to these behaviors are often inconsistent. The dual-hormone hypothesis was developed to help explain these inconsistencies. Specifically, according to this hypothesis, testosterone's association with status-seeking behavior depends on levels of cortisol. Here, we (1) describe the dual-hormone hypothesis in relation to the challenge hypothesis; (2) review recent studies that tested the dual-hormone hypothesis as well as meta-scientific evidence of heterogeneous dual-hormone findings across studies; (3) discuss potential explanations for this heterogeneity, including methodological considerations, contextual factors, and individual differences; and (4) provide recommendations for new work aimed at testing and extending the dual-hormone hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik L Knight
- Center for Healthy Aging, Pennsylvania State University, United States of America; Department of Biobehavioral Health, Pennsylvania State University, United States of America.
| | - Amar Sarkar
- Trinity College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Smrithi Prasad
- Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, United States of America
| | - Pranjal H Mehta
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, United Kingdom
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Prasad S, Lassetter B, Welker KM, Mehta PH. Unstable correspondence between salivary testosterone measured with enzyme immunoassays and tandem mass spectrometry. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2019; 109:104373. [PMID: 31377558 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.104373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2018] [Revised: 02/19/2019] [Accepted: 07/03/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Although some studies reveal that saliva handling and storage practices may influence salivary testosterone concentrations measured with immunoassays, the effect of these method factors on the validity of testosterone immunoassays remains unknown. The validity of immunoassays can be assessed by comparing hormone concentrations measured with immunoassays to a standard reference method: liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (MS). We previously reported the correspondence between salivary testosterone measured with enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) and with MS when there was less variance in (or more control over) method factors related to saliva handling and storage across measurement methods (Welker et al., 2016). In the present study, we expanded the original dataset and compared the correspondence between Salimetrics EIAs and MS when there was greater variance in (or less control over) method factors across EIAs and MS (high method variance), to when there was less variance in these factors (low method variance). If variance in these method factors impacts the validity of testosterone measurement, then the EIA-MS correspondence should be stronger when method variance is low compared to when it is high. Our results contradicted this hypothesis: Salimetrics EIA-MS correspondence was stronger when variance in method factors was high compared to when it was low. The composite average correlation across both method variance comparisons provides an updated estimate of Salimetrics EIA-MS correspondence, but the instability in this correspondence may pose challenges to the reproducibility of psychoneuroendocrinology research. We discuss possible explanations for the surprising pattern of results and provide recommendations for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Smrithi Prasad
- Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, United States; Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, United States.
| | | | - Keith M Welker
- College of Liberal Arts, University of Massachusetts Boston, United States
| | - Pranjal H Mehta
- Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, United States; Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, United Kingdom
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