#testosteronedecisionmaking — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #testosteronedecisionmaking, aggregated by home.social.
-
DATE: September 20, 2026 at 08:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: High testosterone is linked to “loss chasing” behavior after setbacks
URL: https://www.psypost.org/high-testosterone-is-linked-to-loss-chasing-behavior-after-setbacks/
A recent study suggests that while a person’s baseline testosterone levels do not directly determine how many risks they take, the hormone may influence how their body processes the outcomes of past decisions. By measuring sweat on the skin during a gambling game, scientists found evidence that testosterone alters how men respond to the bodily sensations that follow wins and losses. These findings were published in Psychoneuroendocrinology.
To understand how people navigate uncertainty, scientists often rely on a computer program called the Iowa Gambling Task. In this game, players choose cards from four decks to win virtual money. Two decks offer large payouts but come with massive penalties, making them risky and unprofitable in the long run. The other two decks offer smaller payouts but smaller penalties, making them the safer, winning strategy. Players do not know these rules in advance and must learn them through trial and error.
Past research has shown that our bodies often figure out the rules of the game before our conscious minds do. For example, a 1997 study showed that people generate unconscious bodily warning signals, measured through subtle increases in skin sweat, just before reaching for a risky deck. This phenomenon is known as the Somatic Marker Hypothesis, which proposes that these physical “gut feelings” help guide our decision-making.
Scientists later started exploring what biological factors might alter these gut feelings. A 2011 study indicated that people with higher levels of testosterone made riskier choices on the Iowa Gambling Task, suggesting the hormone might play a role. However, a 2026 meta-analysis covered by PsyPost evaluated dozens of previous experiments and found that testosterone has no reliable direct link to general risk-taking.
Because broad evidence for a direct link between testosterone and risky behavior remained weak, researchers began asking a different question. They wondered if the hormone instead works behind the scenes by altering how the body processes rewards, punishments, and those subtle gut feelings.
“This study is part of a larger research project investigating the relationship between hormones and decision-making,” study author Félix Duplessis-Marcotte, a doctoral candidate in neuropsychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal, told PsyPost. “The main study was recently published in Scientific Reports on the association between stress-induced cortisol (a hormone involved in the stress response) and decision-making.” Duplessis-Marcotte conducted the study alongside Marie-France Marin.
“As for testosterone, recent meta-analyses suggest that testosterone is not simply associated with people being more or less risk-taking overall,” he added. “That raised a different question: rather than asking whether testosterone relates to decision-making, what if it influences how people make decisions?”
To investigate this, the scientists recruited 55 young adults, consisting of 27 women and 28 men. At the start of the laboratory session, the participants provided saliva samples so the research team could measure their baseline testosterone levels. Each participant was then asked to complete 100 rounds of the Iowa Gambling Task on a computer.
As the participants played the game, the researchers continuously measured their electrodermal activity. This involves placing sensors on the hand to detect minute changes in sweat gland activity, which serves as an indicator of physiological arousal. The scientists separated these physical responses into two categories. Anticipatory responses were recorded in the seconds just before a participant selected a card, while feedback responses were recorded in the seconds immediately after the participant saw whether they won or lost money.
When analyzing the results, the scientists found that baseline testosterone levels were not associated with general risk-taking. Participants with high testosterone did not simply pick from the risky decks more often than those with low testosterone. This aligns with recent research suggesting the hormone does not act as a simple volume dial for risky behavior.
The research team also looked at the anticipatory sweat responses. In men, these physical warning signals grew stronger before picking from a risky deck as the game progressed, and these signals were associated with their upcoming choices. Women in the study tended to show fewer differences in physical arousal before safe versus risky choices, and they maintained a steady level of risk-taking throughout the game. However, a person’s testosterone level did not alter these anticipatory gut feelings or change how those feelings related to their choices.
Instead, the researchers found that testosterone was associated with how participants physically reacted to the outcomes of their decisions. When men saw the results of their card draws, their subsequent choices were influenced by a combination of their testosterone levels and their bodily responses to that feedback. For men with lower testosterone levels, a stronger physical reaction to an outcome was followed by a decrease in risk-taking on the next turn.
For men with higher testosterone levels, the opposite pattern emerged. A stronger physical reaction to a win or loss was followed by an increase in risk-taking on the subsequent draw. The hormone appeared to alter the motivational meaning of their physical arousal, turning a bodily signal that usually promotes caution into one that encourages risk. This specific relationship between testosterone, feedback-related sweat responses, and subsequent choices was not observed in the women studied.
“The main takeaway is that testosterone may not make people generally more risk-taking,” Duplessis-Marcotte said. “More broadly, these findings add to growing evidence that testosterone’s role in human behavior is more nuanced than the popular stereotype that it simply increases risk-taking.”
“Rather than directly driving risky behavior, testosterone may be associated with some of the affective and physiological processes through which people learn from previous experiences when making decisions,” he explained.
Beyond those moment-to-moment physical reactions, the scientists also noticed a broader behavioral trend related to testosterone following financial losses. Across both men and women, those with lower testosterone levels tended to switch to a safer deck after losing money. Those with higher testosterone levels showed persistent risk-taking after losses, a pattern that resembles “loss chasing” in gambling. They seemed less sensitive to the negative consequences of their choices.
The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2023, which found that testosterone does not drive general risk-taking but instead influences how individuals respond to decision feedback. However, that previous study administered artificial doses of testosterone to men experiencing severe energy deficits, whereas the new research measured natural hormone levels in both men and women.
Additionally, a 2025 study covered by PsyPost similarly found no overall link between testosterone and risk-taking, though it primarily evaluated the effects of an acute hormone dose on financial lottery choices in men rather than natural levels during a card game.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. “Our findings should be viewed as evidence of a subtle association rather than a large behavioral effect,” Duplessis-Marcotte noted. “It is important to note that this study is correlational in nature: no variables were experimentally manipulated, and all results can therefore not be interpreted in causal terms.”
“Also, we investigated decision-making with a single gambling task in a controlled lab-based setting,” he continued. “It is possible, and likely, that our results may be different if it was conducted in a social context (e.g., making decisions while being watched by someone), and using a different decision-making task.” Additionally, the measurements of sweat on the skin only indicate the intensity of a person’s physical arousal, not whether the emotion they felt was positive or negative. Future studies might use brain wave recordings to better understand the specific emotions tied to these choices.
Another detail to note is that the sample size was relatively small when the data was divided into groups based on both sex and hormone levels. The researchers also only measured baseline testosterone at the start of the study.
“I think the field should move beyond treating testosterone as a fixed trait measured once in the laboratory and instead examine its dynamic relationship with behavior,” Duplessis-Marcotte said. “Testosterone changes in response to social interactions, competition, and other contextual factors, so its association with decision-making may be strongest when we measure those real-time fluctuations.”
“Future studies combining repeated hormone measurements with physiological signals and more ecologically valid decision-making tasks could help clarify when and how testosterone influences the decision process,” he added.
The study, “Testosterone is associated with affective feedback processing in ambiguous decision-making,” was authored by Félix Duplessis-Marcotte, Valentin Magnon, and Marie-France Marin.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/high-testosterone-is-linked-to-loss-chasing-behavior-after-setbacks/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #TestosteroneDecisionMaking #LossChasing #IowaGamblingTask #SomaticMarkers #AffectiveFeedback #RiskTakingNuance #PhysiologicalArousal #GenderDifferences #Neuropsychology #GamblingResearch
-
DATE: September 20, 2026 at 08:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: High testosterone is linked to “loss chasing” behavior after setbacks
URL: https://www.psypost.org/high-testosterone-is-linked-to-loss-chasing-behavior-after-setbacks/
A recent study suggests that while a person’s baseline testosterone levels do not directly determine how many risks they take, the hormone may influence how their body processes the outcomes of past decisions. By measuring sweat on the skin during a gambling game, scientists found evidence that testosterone alters how men respond to the bodily sensations that follow wins and losses. These findings were published in Psychoneuroendocrinology.
To understand how people navigate uncertainty, scientists often rely on a computer program called the Iowa Gambling Task. In this game, players choose cards from four decks to win virtual money. Two decks offer large payouts but come with massive penalties, making them risky and unprofitable in the long run. The other two decks offer smaller payouts but smaller penalties, making them the safer, winning strategy. Players do not know these rules in advance and must learn them through trial and error.
Past research has shown that our bodies often figure out the rules of the game before our conscious minds do. For example, a 1997 study showed that people generate unconscious bodily warning signals, measured through subtle increases in skin sweat, just before reaching for a risky deck. This phenomenon is known as the Somatic Marker Hypothesis, which proposes that these physical “gut feelings” help guide our decision-making.
Scientists later started exploring what biological factors might alter these gut feelings. A 2011 study indicated that people with higher levels of testosterone made riskier choices on the Iowa Gambling Task, suggesting the hormone might play a role. However, a 2026 meta-analysis covered by PsyPost evaluated dozens of previous experiments and found that testosterone has no reliable direct link to general risk-taking.
Because broad evidence for a direct link between testosterone and risky behavior remained weak, researchers began asking a different question. They wondered if the hormone instead works behind the scenes by altering how the body processes rewards, punishments, and those subtle gut feelings.
“This study is part of a larger research project investigating the relationship between hormones and decision-making,” study author Félix Duplessis-Marcotte, a doctoral candidate in neuropsychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal, told PsyPost. “The main study was recently published in Scientific Reports on the association between stress-induced cortisol (a hormone involved in the stress response) and decision-making.” Duplessis-Marcotte conducted the study alongside Marie-France Marin.
“As for testosterone, recent meta-analyses suggest that testosterone is not simply associated with people being more or less risk-taking overall,” he added. “That raised a different question: rather than asking whether testosterone relates to decision-making, what if it influences how people make decisions?”
To investigate this, the scientists recruited 55 young adults, consisting of 27 women and 28 men. At the start of the laboratory session, the participants provided saliva samples so the research team could measure their baseline testosterone levels. Each participant was then asked to complete 100 rounds of the Iowa Gambling Task on a computer.
As the participants played the game, the researchers continuously measured their electrodermal activity. This involves placing sensors on the hand to detect minute changes in sweat gland activity, which serves as an indicator of physiological arousal. The scientists separated these physical responses into two categories. Anticipatory responses were recorded in the seconds just before a participant selected a card, while feedback responses were recorded in the seconds immediately after the participant saw whether they won or lost money.
When analyzing the results, the scientists found that baseline testosterone levels were not associated with general risk-taking. Participants with high testosterone did not simply pick from the risky decks more often than those with low testosterone. This aligns with recent research suggesting the hormone does not act as a simple volume dial for risky behavior.
The research team also looked at the anticipatory sweat responses. In men, these physical warning signals grew stronger before picking from a risky deck as the game progressed, and these signals were associated with their upcoming choices. Women in the study tended to show fewer differences in physical arousal before safe versus risky choices, and they maintained a steady level of risk-taking throughout the game. However, a person’s testosterone level did not alter these anticipatory gut feelings or change how those feelings related to their choices.
Instead, the researchers found that testosterone was associated with how participants physically reacted to the outcomes of their decisions. When men saw the results of their card draws, their subsequent choices were influenced by a combination of their testosterone levels and their bodily responses to that feedback. For men with lower testosterone levels, a stronger physical reaction to an outcome was followed by a decrease in risk-taking on the next turn.
For men with higher testosterone levels, the opposite pattern emerged. A stronger physical reaction to a win or loss was followed by an increase in risk-taking on the subsequent draw. The hormone appeared to alter the motivational meaning of their physical arousal, turning a bodily signal that usually promotes caution into one that encourages risk. This specific relationship between testosterone, feedback-related sweat responses, and subsequent choices was not observed in the women studied.
“The main takeaway is that testosterone may not make people generally more risk-taking,” Duplessis-Marcotte said. “More broadly, these findings add to growing evidence that testosterone’s role in human behavior is more nuanced than the popular stereotype that it simply increases risk-taking.”
“Rather than directly driving risky behavior, testosterone may be associated with some of the affective and physiological processes through which people learn from previous experiences when making decisions,” he explained.
Beyond those moment-to-moment physical reactions, the scientists also noticed a broader behavioral trend related to testosterone following financial losses. Across both men and women, those with lower testosterone levels tended to switch to a safer deck after losing money. Those with higher testosterone levels showed persistent risk-taking after losses, a pattern that resembles “loss chasing” in gambling. They seemed less sensitive to the negative consequences of their choices.
The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2023, which found that testosterone does not drive general risk-taking but instead influences how individuals respond to decision feedback. However, that previous study administered artificial doses of testosterone to men experiencing severe energy deficits, whereas the new research measured natural hormone levels in both men and women.
Additionally, a 2025 study covered by PsyPost similarly found no overall link between testosterone and risk-taking, though it primarily evaluated the effects of an acute hormone dose on financial lottery choices in men rather than natural levels during a card game.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. “Our findings should be viewed as evidence of a subtle association rather than a large behavioral effect,” Duplessis-Marcotte noted. “It is important to note that this study is correlational in nature: no variables were experimentally manipulated, and all results can therefore not be interpreted in causal terms.”
“Also, we investigated decision-making with a single gambling task in a controlled lab-based setting,” he continued. “It is possible, and likely, that our results may be different if it was conducted in a social context (e.g., making decisions while being watched by someone), and using a different decision-making task.” Additionally, the measurements of sweat on the skin only indicate the intensity of a person’s physical arousal, not whether the emotion they felt was positive or negative. Future studies might use brain wave recordings to better understand the specific emotions tied to these choices.
Another detail to note is that the sample size was relatively small when the data was divided into groups based on both sex and hormone levels. The researchers also only measured baseline testosterone at the start of the study.
“I think the field should move beyond treating testosterone as a fixed trait measured once in the laboratory and instead examine its dynamic relationship with behavior,” Duplessis-Marcotte said. “Testosterone changes in response to social interactions, competition, and other contextual factors, so its association with decision-making may be strongest when we measure those real-time fluctuations.”
“Future studies combining repeated hormone measurements with physiological signals and more ecologically valid decision-making tasks could help clarify when and how testosterone influences the decision process,” he added.
The study, “Testosterone is associated with affective feedback processing in ambiguous decision-making,” was authored by Félix Duplessis-Marcotte, Valentin Magnon, and Marie-France Marin.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/high-testosterone-is-linked-to-loss-chasing-behavior-after-setbacks/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #TestosteroneDecisionMaking #LossChasing #IowaGamblingTask #SomaticMarkers #AffectiveFeedback #RiskTakingNuance #PhysiologicalArousal #GenderDifferences #Neuropsychology #GamblingResearch
-
DATE: September 20, 2026 at 08:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: High testosterone is linked to “loss chasing” behavior after setbacks
URL: https://www.psypost.org/high-testosterone-is-linked-to-loss-chasing-behavior-after-setbacks/
A recent study suggests that while a person’s baseline testosterone levels do not directly determine how many risks they take, the hormone may influence how their body processes the outcomes of past decisions. By measuring sweat on the skin during a gambling game, scientists found evidence that testosterone alters how men respond to the bodily sensations that follow wins and losses. These findings were published in Psychoneuroendocrinology.
To understand how people navigate uncertainty, scientists often rely on a computer program called the Iowa Gambling Task. In this game, players choose cards from four decks to win virtual money. Two decks offer large payouts but come with massive penalties, making them risky and unprofitable in the long run. The other two decks offer smaller payouts but smaller penalties, making them the safer, winning strategy. Players do not know these rules in advance and must learn them through trial and error.
Past research has shown that our bodies often figure out the rules of the game before our conscious minds do. For example, a 1997 study showed that people generate unconscious bodily warning signals, measured through subtle increases in skin sweat, just before reaching for a risky deck. This phenomenon is known as the Somatic Marker Hypothesis, which proposes that these physical “gut feelings” help guide our decision-making.
Scientists later started exploring what biological factors might alter these gut feelings. A 2011 study indicated that people with higher levels of testosterone made riskier choices on the Iowa Gambling Task, suggesting the hormone might play a role. However, a 2026 meta-analysis covered by PsyPost evaluated dozens of previous experiments and found that testosterone has no reliable direct link to general risk-taking.
Because broad evidence for a direct link between testosterone and risky behavior remained weak, researchers began asking a different question. They wondered if the hormone instead works behind the scenes by altering how the body processes rewards, punishments, and those subtle gut feelings.
“This study is part of a larger research project investigating the relationship between hormones and decision-making,” study author Félix Duplessis-Marcotte, a doctoral candidate in neuropsychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal, told PsyPost. “The main study was recently published in Scientific Reports on the association between stress-induced cortisol (a hormone involved in the stress response) and decision-making.” Duplessis-Marcotte conducted the study alongside Marie-France Marin.
“As for testosterone, recent meta-analyses suggest that testosterone is not simply associated with people being more or less risk-taking overall,” he added. “That raised a different question: rather than asking whether testosterone relates to decision-making, what if it influences how people make decisions?”
To investigate this, the scientists recruited 55 young adults, consisting of 27 women and 28 men. At the start of the laboratory session, the participants provided saliva samples so the research team could measure their baseline testosterone levels. Each participant was then asked to complete 100 rounds of the Iowa Gambling Task on a computer.
As the participants played the game, the researchers continuously measured their electrodermal activity. This involves placing sensors on the hand to detect minute changes in sweat gland activity, which serves as an indicator of physiological arousal. The scientists separated these physical responses into two categories. Anticipatory responses were recorded in the seconds just before a participant selected a card, while feedback responses were recorded in the seconds immediately after the participant saw whether they won or lost money.
When analyzing the results, the scientists found that baseline testosterone levels were not associated with general risk-taking. Participants with high testosterone did not simply pick from the risky decks more often than those with low testosterone. This aligns with recent research suggesting the hormone does not act as a simple volume dial for risky behavior.
The research team also looked at the anticipatory sweat responses. In men, these physical warning signals grew stronger before picking from a risky deck as the game progressed, and these signals were associated with their upcoming choices. Women in the study tended to show fewer differences in physical arousal before safe versus risky choices, and they maintained a steady level of risk-taking throughout the game. However, a person’s testosterone level did not alter these anticipatory gut feelings or change how those feelings related to their choices.
Instead, the researchers found that testosterone was associated with how participants physically reacted to the outcomes of their decisions. When men saw the results of their card draws, their subsequent choices were influenced by a combination of their testosterone levels and their bodily responses to that feedback. For men with lower testosterone levels, a stronger physical reaction to an outcome was followed by a decrease in risk-taking on the next turn.
For men with higher testosterone levels, the opposite pattern emerged. A stronger physical reaction to a win or loss was followed by an increase in risk-taking on the subsequent draw. The hormone appeared to alter the motivational meaning of their physical arousal, turning a bodily signal that usually promotes caution into one that encourages risk. This specific relationship between testosterone, feedback-related sweat responses, and subsequent choices was not observed in the women studied.
“The main takeaway is that testosterone may not make people generally more risk-taking,” Duplessis-Marcotte said. “More broadly, these findings add to growing evidence that testosterone’s role in human behavior is more nuanced than the popular stereotype that it simply increases risk-taking.”
“Rather than directly driving risky behavior, testosterone may be associated with some of the affective and physiological processes through which people learn from previous experiences when making decisions,” he explained.
Beyond those moment-to-moment physical reactions, the scientists also noticed a broader behavioral trend related to testosterone following financial losses. Across both men and women, those with lower testosterone levels tended to switch to a safer deck after losing money. Those with higher testosterone levels showed persistent risk-taking after losses, a pattern that resembles “loss chasing” in gambling. They seemed less sensitive to the negative consequences of their choices.
The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2023, which found that testosterone does not drive general risk-taking but instead influences how individuals respond to decision feedback. However, that previous study administered artificial doses of testosterone to men experiencing severe energy deficits, whereas the new research measured natural hormone levels in both men and women.
Additionally, a 2025 study covered by PsyPost similarly found no overall link between testosterone and risk-taking, though it primarily evaluated the effects of an acute hormone dose on financial lottery choices in men rather than natural levels during a card game.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. “Our findings should be viewed as evidence of a subtle association rather than a large behavioral effect,” Duplessis-Marcotte noted. “It is important to note that this study is correlational in nature: no variables were experimentally manipulated, and all results can therefore not be interpreted in causal terms.”
“Also, we investigated decision-making with a single gambling task in a controlled lab-based setting,” he continued. “It is possible, and likely, that our results may be different if it was conducted in a social context (e.g., making decisions while being watched by someone), and using a different decision-making task.” Additionally, the measurements of sweat on the skin only indicate the intensity of a person’s physical arousal, not whether the emotion they felt was positive or negative. Future studies might use brain wave recordings to better understand the specific emotions tied to these choices.
Another detail to note is that the sample size was relatively small when the data was divided into groups based on both sex and hormone levels. The researchers also only measured baseline testosterone at the start of the study.
“I think the field should move beyond treating testosterone as a fixed trait measured once in the laboratory and instead examine its dynamic relationship with behavior,” Duplessis-Marcotte said. “Testosterone changes in response to social interactions, competition, and other contextual factors, so its association with decision-making may be strongest when we measure those real-time fluctuations.”
“Future studies combining repeated hormone measurements with physiological signals and more ecologically valid decision-making tasks could help clarify when and how testosterone influences the decision process,” he added.
The study, “Testosterone is associated with affective feedback processing in ambiguous decision-making,” was authored by Félix Duplessis-Marcotte, Valentin Magnon, and Marie-France Marin.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/high-testosterone-is-linked-to-loss-chasing-behavior-after-setbacks/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #TestosteroneDecisionMaking #LossChasing #IowaGamblingTask #SomaticMarkers #AffectiveFeedback #RiskTakingNuance #PhysiologicalArousal #GenderDifferences #Neuropsychology #GamblingResearch
-
DATE: September 20, 2026 at 08:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: High testosterone is linked to “loss chasing” behavior after setbacks
URL: https://www.psypost.org/high-testosterone-is-linked-to-loss-chasing-behavior-after-setbacks/
A recent study suggests that while a person’s baseline testosterone levels do not directly determine how many risks they take, the hormone may influence how their body processes the outcomes of past decisions. By measuring sweat on the skin during a gambling game, scientists found evidence that testosterone alters how men respond to the bodily sensations that follow wins and losses. These findings were published in Psychoneuroendocrinology.
To understand how people navigate uncertainty, scientists often rely on a computer program called the Iowa Gambling Task. In this game, players choose cards from four decks to win virtual money. Two decks offer large payouts but come with massive penalties, making them risky and unprofitable in the long run. The other two decks offer smaller payouts but smaller penalties, making them the safer, winning strategy. Players do not know these rules in advance and must learn them through trial and error.
Past research has shown that our bodies often figure out the rules of the game before our conscious minds do. For example, a 1997 study showed that people generate unconscious bodily warning signals, measured through subtle increases in skin sweat, just before reaching for a risky deck. This phenomenon is known as the Somatic Marker Hypothesis, which proposes that these physical “gut feelings” help guide our decision-making.
Scientists later started exploring what biological factors might alter these gut feelings. A 2011 study indicated that people with higher levels of testosterone made riskier choices on the Iowa Gambling Task, suggesting the hormone might play a role. However, a 2026 meta-analysis covered by PsyPost evaluated dozens of previous experiments and found that testosterone has no reliable direct link to general risk-taking.
Because broad evidence for a direct link between testosterone and risky behavior remained weak, researchers began asking a different question. They wondered if the hormone instead works behind the scenes by altering how the body processes rewards, punishments, and those subtle gut feelings.
“This study is part of a larger research project investigating the relationship between hormones and decision-making,” study author Félix Duplessis-Marcotte, a doctoral candidate in neuropsychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal, told PsyPost. “The main study was recently published in Scientific Reports on the association between stress-induced cortisol (a hormone involved in the stress response) and decision-making.” Duplessis-Marcotte conducted the study alongside Marie-France Marin.
“As for testosterone, recent meta-analyses suggest that testosterone is not simply associated with people being more or less risk-taking overall,” he added. “That raised a different question: rather than asking whether testosterone relates to decision-making, what if it influences how people make decisions?”
To investigate this, the scientists recruited 55 young adults, consisting of 27 women and 28 men. At the start of the laboratory session, the participants provided saliva samples so the research team could measure their baseline testosterone levels. Each participant was then asked to complete 100 rounds of the Iowa Gambling Task on a computer.
As the participants played the game, the researchers continuously measured their electrodermal activity. This involves placing sensors on the hand to detect minute changes in sweat gland activity, which serves as an indicator of physiological arousal. The scientists separated these physical responses into two categories. Anticipatory responses were recorded in the seconds just before a participant selected a card, while feedback responses were recorded in the seconds immediately after the participant saw whether they won or lost money.
When analyzing the results, the scientists found that baseline testosterone levels were not associated with general risk-taking. Participants with high testosterone did not simply pick from the risky decks more often than those with low testosterone. This aligns with recent research suggesting the hormone does not act as a simple volume dial for risky behavior.
The research team also looked at the anticipatory sweat responses. In men, these physical warning signals grew stronger before picking from a risky deck as the game progressed, and these signals were associated with their upcoming choices. Women in the study tended to show fewer differences in physical arousal before safe versus risky choices, and they maintained a steady level of risk-taking throughout the game. However, a person’s testosterone level did not alter these anticipatory gut feelings or change how those feelings related to their choices.
Instead, the researchers found that testosterone was associated with how participants physically reacted to the outcomes of their decisions. When men saw the results of their card draws, their subsequent choices were influenced by a combination of their testosterone levels and their bodily responses to that feedback. For men with lower testosterone levels, a stronger physical reaction to an outcome was followed by a decrease in risk-taking on the next turn.
For men with higher testosterone levels, the opposite pattern emerged. A stronger physical reaction to a win or loss was followed by an increase in risk-taking on the subsequent draw. The hormone appeared to alter the motivational meaning of their physical arousal, turning a bodily signal that usually promotes caution into one that encourages risk. This specific relationship between testosterone, feedback-related sweat responses, and subsequent choices was not observed in the women studied.
“The main takeaway is that testosterone may not make people generally more risk-taking,” Duplessis-Marcotte said. “More broadly, these findings add to growing evidence that testosterone’s role in human behavior is more nuanced than the popular stereotype that it simply increases risk-taking.”
“Rather than directly driving risky behavior, testosterone may be associated with some of the affective and physiological processes through which people learn from previous experiences when making decisions,” he explained.
Beyond those moment-to-moment physical reactions, the scientists also noticed a broader behavioral trend related to testosterone following financial losses. Across both men and women, those with lower testosterone levels tended to switch to a safer deck after losing money. Those with higher testosterone levels showed persistent risk-taking after losses, a pattern that resembles “loss chasing” in gambling. They seemed less sensitive to the negative consequences of their choices.
The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2023, which found that testosterone does not drive general risk-taking but instead influences how individuals respond to decision feedback. However, that previous study administered artificial doses of testosterone to men experiencing severe energy deficits, whereas the new research measured natural hormone levels in both men and women.
Additionally, a 2025 study covered by PsyPost similarly found no overall link between testosterone and risk-taking, though it primarily evaluated the effects of an acute hormone dose on financial lottery choices in men rather than natural levels during a card game.
As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. “Our findings should be viewed as evidence of a subtle association rather than a large behavioral effect,” Duplessis-Marcotte noted. “It is important to note that this study is correlational in nature: no variables were experimentally manipulated, and all results can therefore not be interpreted in causal terms.”
“Also, we investigated decision-making with a single gambling task in a controlled lab-based setting,” he continued. “It is possible, and likely, that our results may be different if it was conducted in a social context (e.g., making decisions while being watched by someone), and using a different decision-making task.” Additionally, the measurements of sweat on the skin only indicate the intensity of a person’s physical arousal, not whether the emotion they felt was positive or negative. Future studies might use brain wave recordings to better understand the specific emotions tied to these choices.
Another detail to note is that the sample size was relatively small when the data was divided into groups based on both sex and hormone levels. The researchers also only measured baseline testosterone at the start of the study.
“I think the field should move beyond treating testosterone as a fixed trait measured once in the laboratory and instead examine its dynamic relationship with behavior,” Duplessis-Marcotte said. “Testosterone changes in response to social interactions, competition, and other contextual factors, so its association with decision-making may be strongest when we measure those real-time fluctuations.”
“Future studies combining repeated hormone measurements with physiological signals and more ecologically valid decision-making tasks could help clarify when and how testosterone influences the decision process,” he added.
The study, “Testosterone is associated with affective feedback processing in ambiguous decision-making,” was authored by Félix Duplessis-Marcotte, Valentin Magnon, and Marie-France Marin.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/high-testosterone-is-linked-to-loss-chasing-behavior-after-setbacks/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #TestosteroneDecisionMaking #LossChasing #IowaGamblingTask #SomaticMarkers #AffectiveFeedback #RiskTakingNuance #PhysiologicalArousal #GenderDifferences #Neuropsychology #GamblingResearch