Casto, Kathleen V;
Cohen, Dale J;
Akinola, Modupe;
Mehta, Pranjal H;
(2024)
Testosterone, gender identity and gender-stereotyped personality attributes.
Hormones and Behavior
, 162
, Article 105540. 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105540.
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Abstract
Sex/gender differences in personality associated with gender stereotyped behavior are widely studied in psychology yet remain a subject of ongoing debate. Exposure to testosterone during developmental periods is considered to be a primary mediator of many sex/gender differences in behavior. Extensions of this research has led to both lay beliefs and initial research about individual differences in basal testosterone in adulthood relating to “masculine” personality. In this study, we explored the relationships between testosterone, gender identity, and gender stereotyped personality attributes in a sample of over 400 university students (65 % female assigned at birth). Participants provided ratings of their self-perceived masculinity and femininity, resulting in a continuous measure of gender identity, and a set of agentic and communal personality attributes. A saliva sample was also provided for assay of basal testosterone. Results showed no compelling evidence that basal testosterone correlates with gender-stereotyped personality attributes or explains the relationship between sex/gender identity and these attributes, across, within, or covarying out sex assigned at birth. Contributing to a more gender diverse approach to assessing sex/gender relationships with personality and testosterone, our continuous measure of self-perceived masculinity and femininity predicted additional variance in personality beyond binary sex and showed some preliminary but weak relationships with testosterone. Results from this study cast doubt on the activational testosterone-masculinity hypothesis for explaining sex differences in gender stereotyped traits and within-sex/gender variation in attributes associated with agency and communality.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Testosterone, gender identity and gender-stereotyped personality attributes |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105540 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105540 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Testosterone, Sex differences, Gender identity, Masculinity, Femininity, Personality, Agency, Communality |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Experimental Psychology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10191532 |
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