Discussion
PHYSIOLOGICAL STRESS
Using pharmacological manipulation and a novel computational model integrating reinforcement learning with the drift diffusion modeling framework (RLDDM), we tested and characterized testosterone’s role in audience-dependent prosocial behavior. The results show that testosterone diminishes the typical audience effect present in the placebo condition. Computational modeling pinpoints this effect to a reduction in the extent to which the performance of prosocial (vs. selfish) choices is consistent with learned reward values. Moreover, the effects are more pronounced in participants with higher trait dominance. Taken together, these findings are in line with the social dominance hypothesis and are thus consistent with the notion that testosterone decreases submission to audience expectations, rather than promoting the strategic display of socially pleasing behavior [A growing body of evidence suggests that testosterone exerts its behavioral effects through the modulation of reward-related processes [Alternatively, it could be speculated that the elimination of the audience effect by testosterone stems from the hormone’s ability to reduce fear in social situations. Indeed, earlier research shows that exogenous testosterone diminishes the physiological stress response to the presence of an observer [The present data also shows that testosterone administration substantially alters the relation between the audience effect and self-reported value orientations. Variability in dominance, conservation, and cultural differences in social status attaintment, can also account for the results of another recent study, which was conducted among Chinese students and showed that testosterone enhanced audience effects [Our results are, furthermore, in line with studies showing that testosterone decreases deception [There are also some limitations inherent to the methodology of our study. Due to the sex differences in testosterone metabolism and unknown pharmacokinetics following the topical administration of testosterone in women [In conclusion, we conducted a multifaceted examination of the computational, endocrinological, and genetic mechanisms underlying audience effect and showed that testosterone reduced strategic prosocial learning through impairment of choice consistency. These findings provide evidence that in the Western student sample, testosterone abolishes audience effects, and therefore does not foster the seeking of social leadership by reputational politics. The present study is the first to specify testosterone’s role in reward processing by revealing that testosterone impacts status-seeking through modulation of how the learned reward values are expressed in behavior.