The Truth about Testosterone: Aggression, Sex, and Social Status

The Myth

Testosterone causes violent and sexual behavior in men.

Many people believe that testosterone, the primary male sex hormone, causes aggression and horniness in men. We see a hot blonde’s firm ass and start lusting after her wet warmth; we imagine a sociopath terrorizing our family and start lusting after his sticky blood. In both cases, the reason is testosterone, right? Wrong. This is not how hormones work. Human behavior is much more complex.

The Truth

Testosterone modulates violent and sexual behavior in men.

Extremely low testosterone. Castration, which eliminates testosterone, radically decreases masculine behavior, but does not eliminate it. What remains depends on social conditioning: the more experience a man had with sex and aggression before castration, the more sexual and violent tendencies continue afterwards.

Extremely high testosterone. Anabolic steroids radically increase masculine behavior, but do not produce it. Again, social learning is a critical factor: only a man who knows how to get laid will have more sex once he has 1000% more testosterone than a normal man, and only a man who is socially conditioned to be aggressive (traumatized, paranoid, etc.) will be more violent once his testosterone is at such a supraphysiological level. Exogenous testosterone does not cause, but amplify preexisting patterns of sexuality and aggression.

Everything in between. In healthy males, testosterone fluctuations within a normal range do not alter masculine behavior. For example, high vs. low testosterone does not predict how a man will behave when threatened or insulted: a high-T man might stay calm, while a low-T man might snap. Their actions say more about their fetal and childhood environment and their prefrontal/executive functioning than about their testosterone levels.

Conclusion. Rather than causing aggression and horniness, testosterone (similar to alcohol) merely exaggerates preexisting patterns of violent and sexual behavior. Hormones work like volume controls, not like on-off switches.

testosterone aggression — Besides social learning, amygdala activity, and triggering stimuli, sexually aggressive behavior also depends on an individual’s power: men with chronically low social power are more likely to be sexually aggressive toward women than high-power men (Williams et al., 2017; see also my post on how pride and humility depend on power).

How to Boost Testosterone Levels

Masculine actions stimulate testosterone secretion—having sex, being aggressive, achieving goals, pursuing competitions, and winning in any area of life. Even watching porn, talking to women, or watching one’s sports team win raises testosterone levels. Therefore, if you want to boost your testosterone levels naturally, the best way (besides diet, sleep, and exercise) is to start taking action: approach attractive women, compete in sports, work toward a goal you have set for yourself—and start winning! Whatever you do to challenge yourself will increase your testosterone.

The real question, however, is: Why exactly do you want to increase your testosterone levels? Because you hope it will make you more “alpha”? Because you feel like you need more testosterone to be worthy of pussy? Because you think your muscles are too small? Because this is how supplement companies have fucked up your mind with their marketing? Or do you understand how vital a good hormonal balance is for a strong, healthy, and happy life?

Final Facts

Whatever it may be, we should not forget that testosterone can make us egocentric, overconfident, delusionally optimistic, unreceptive to feedback, and imprudently impulsive. Testosterone, even though it makes us feel good and powerful, can tone down our impulse control, diminish our willpower, and impair our freedom to do the harder thing. On the other hand, testosterone is related to pride, which can fuel the power of our will.

Crucially, the effects of testosterone are context-dependent: in an environment where violent dominance is rewarded with social status, testosterone tones up our aggression; in an environment where the most magnanimous person becomes the alpha, testosterone makes us more generous, considerate, and forgiving. Testosterone modulates our behavior to elevate our competitive drive and ultimately our social status, but what elevates social status always depends on the group context.