Placebo-controlled manipulations of testosterone levels and dominance

Mazur & Booth present an intriguing model of the relationship between circulating testosterone levels and dominance behaviour in man, but their reliew of studies on testosterone-behaviour relationships in man is selective. Much of the evidence they cite is correlational in nature. Placebo-controlled manipulations of testosterone levels are required to test their hypothesis that dominance levels are testosterone-dependent in man. The changes in testosterone level that follow behavioural experience may be a consequence of stress. Testosterone levels in man are determined by a wide variety of factors, and a multivariate approach is required.