Testosterone Measurements in Social and Clinical Psychology

Abstract

Activity of the endocrine system often matches the pace of social interaction. Testosterone has a characteristic baseline level for each individual, which predicts individual differences in behavior. Testosterone levels also change over periods of minutes and hours in response to social stimuli. Testosterone is thus both a cause and an effect of social interaction, part of a system rather than a purely dependent or independent variable. Testosterone is related to sexual activity, antisocial behavior, occupational achievement, and experiences of success and failure