Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T19:57:29.521Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sex differences in human aggression: The interaction between early developmental and later activational testosterone

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2009

David Terburg ,
Jiska S. Peper ,
Barak Morgan  and
Jack van Honk
David Terburg
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands. [email protected]@[email protected]
Jiska S. Peper
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands. [email protected]@[email protected]
Barak Morgan
Affiliation:
Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, Department of Human Biology, Cape Town, South Africa7925. [email protected]
Jack van Honk
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands. [email protected]@[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The relation between testosterone levels and aggressive behavior is well established. From an evolutionary viewpoint, testosterone can explain at least part of the sex differences found in aggressive behavior. This explanation, however, is mediated by factors such as prenatal testosterone levels and basal levels of cortisol. Especially regarding sex differences in aggression during adolescence, these mediators have great influence. Based on developmental brain structure research we argue that sex differences in aggression have a pre-pubertal origin and are maintained during adolescence. Evidence of prenatal, adolescent, and adult levels of testosterone in relation to aggression taken together, support Archer's argument for sexual selection as the driver of sex differences in aggression.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 32 , Issue 3-4 , August 2009 , pp. 290
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bailey, A. A. & Hurd, P. L. (2005) Finger length ratio (2D:4D) correlates with physical aggression in men but not women. Biological Psychology 68:215–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dabbs, J. M. Jr., Carr, T. S., Frady, R. L. & Riad, J. K. (1995) Testosterone, crime, and misbehavior among 692 male prison inmates. Personality and Individual Differences 9:269–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dabbs, J. M. Jr. & Hargrove, M. F. (1997) Age, testosterone, and behavior among female prison inmates. Psychosomatic Medicine 59:477–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dabbs, J. M. Jr. & Jurkovic, G. J. (1991) Salivary testosterone and cortisol among late adolescent male offenders. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 19(4):469–78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gunnar, M. R., Wewerka, S., Frenn, K., Long, J. D. & Griggs, C. (2009) Developmental changes in hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal activity over the transition to adolescence: Normative changes and associations with puberty. Developmental Psychopathology 21(1):69–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hermans, E. J., Ramsey, N. F. & van Honk, J. (2008) Exogenous testosterone enhances responsiveness to social threat in the neural circuitry of social aggression in humans. Biological Psychiatry 63:263–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paus, T., Keshavan, M. & Giedd, J. N. (2008) Why do many psychiatric disorders emerge during adolescence? Nature Reviews Neuroscience 9(12):947–57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peper, J. S., Brouwer, R. M., Schnack, H. G., Van Baal, G. C., Van Leeuwen, M., Van den Berg, S. M., Delemarre-Van de Waal, H. A., Boomsma, D. I., Kahn, R. S. & Hulshoff Pol, H. E. (2009) Sex steroids and brain structure in pubertal boys and girls. Psychoneuroendocrinology 34(3):332–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Popma, A., Vermeiren, R., Geluk, C. A. M. L., Rinne, T., Van den Brink, W., Knol, K. L., Jansen, L. M., Van Engeland, H. & Doreleijers, T. A. (2007) Cortisol moderates the relationship between testosterone and aggression in delinquent male adolescents Biological Psychiatry 61:405–411.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Honk, J. (2009) Testosterone and human social behavior. Paper presented by invitation at the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, May 2009.Google Scholar