Testosterone is associated with mating success but not attractiveness or masculinity in human males

Abstract

Testosterone is thought to mediate a trade-off between paternal effort and mating effort, such that males investing monogamously have lower testosterone than those with multiple partners. This suggests that high-testosterone males may have a reproductive advantage over their low-testosterone counterparts via increased mating success. We tested 119 adult males to assess whether testosterone is associated with mating success, and rated masculinity and attractiveness. We found a significant positive correlation between testosterone and cumulative mating success. There was, however, no correlation between testosterone and rated masculinity or attractiveness. This study indicates that, although current levels of testosterone covary with male mating success, this effect may not be mediated by women's preferences for visual cues to testosterone levels conveyed in static face or body features. If the testosterone–mating success link is driven by female choice, this effect may be behaviourally modulated, for example, through the augmentation of male mate seeking or courtship effort.