Testosterone as a social inhibitor Two case studies of the effect of testosterone treatment on language 2004 1 citations ? 1 self

Abstract:  This study aimed to correlate testosterone levels with natural written language in 2 people undergoing testosterone therapy. Two participants, a man receiving treatment for loss of upper-body strength and a female-to-male transgendered individual, supplied records of injections over 1?2 years along with e-mails or journal entries as writing samples. Results showed that higher testosterone levels correlated with reduced use of words related to social connections. Language relating to anger, sexuality, and achievement was unrelated to testosterone levels. It appears that testosterone steers attention away from social connections but not necessarily toward concerns with aggression or sexual activity. Language is inherently social. It is not surprising, then, that the ways in which people select and use words in everyday life correlate with their social and psychological states, moods, depression levels, and health. Subtle fluctuations in linguistic style can signal changes in people?s social worlds. Endocrine systems are also related to social factors, guiding social, sexual, and aggressive behaviors. This raises the question: Do fluctuations in hormone levels, such as testosterone, correlate with changes in word use? Of all the hormones, testosterone is one that is routinely linked with social behaviors. Testosterone levels represent one of the biggest hormonal differences between men and women (Christiansen, 1998). As a result, laypeople and scientists alike often hold this particular hormone responsible for many of the differences between men and women, differences between men of the same age, and behavioral changes within one person over different points in life (e.g., adolescence relative to middle age). Many studies have linked testosterone with aggression (an effect size of d ? 0.40 was reported in a meta-analysis by Archer, Birring, & Wu, 1998). Testosterone has also been linked to negative moods