The testosterone–cortisol ratio: A hormonal marker for proneness to social aggression
Abstract
Social aggression is an escalating hazard for individuals and society. It is most frequently observed as impulsive-reactive aggression in antisocial personality disorder (APD), but in psychopathic aggressive personalities instrumental social aggression is more prominent. However, the psychobiological mechanisms underlying human social aggression are still poorly understood. Here we propose a psychobiological mechanism that may explain human social aggression wherein the steroid hormones cortisol and testosterone play a critical role. High levels of testosterone and low levels of cortisol have been associated with social aggression in several species but it seems that in those individuals wherein these hormonal markers combine social aggression is most violent. In this review we discuss fundamental and clinical research which underscores the potential of the testosterone-cortisol ratio as a possible marker for criminal aggressive tendencies.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The study employed a double-blind, randomized controlled design.
“We employed a double-blind, randomized controlled design (Davidson, 2010;terburg, Morgan, & van honk, 2009).”
From Salivary testosterone and cortisol response in acute stress modulated by seven sessions of mindfulness meditation in young males (2024) · cites this paper as terburg, Morgan, & van honk, 2009
iBMt is a form of open-monitoring mindfulness meditation.
“in literature, iBMt is termed as a form of open-monitoring mindfulness meditation (terburg et al., 2009).”
From Salivary testosterone and cortisol response in acute stress modulated by seven sessions of mindfulness meditation in young males (2024) · cites this paper as terburg et al., 2009
Growing evidence suggests that the effects of mindfulness meditation derive from improved self-regulation of attention, emotion, and self-awareness.
“Growing evidence suggests that the effects of mindfulness meditation derive from improved self-regulation of attention, emotion, and self-awareness (terburg et al., 2009).”
From Salivary testosterone and cortisol response in acute stress modulated by seven sessions of mindfulness meditation in young males (2024) · cites this paper as terburg et al., 2009
Our previous RCTs indicated that brief iBMt could induce several neurophysiological and psychological changes.
“Our previous Rcts indicated that brief iBMt could induce several neurophysiological and psychological changes (scholey et al., 2009; terburg et al., 2009).”
From Salivary testosterone and cortisol response in acute stress modulated by seven sessions of mindfulness meditation in young males (2024) · cites this paper as terburg et al., 2009
Compared to waitlist control, MBSR showed positive effects on stress reduction, mood changes, behavioral symptoms, and pain relief.
“For example, compared to the waitlist control, a widely used meditation program-mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBsR) showed positive effects on stress reduction, mood changes, behavioral symptoms, and pain relief (terburg et al., 2009).”
From Salivary testosterone and cortisol response in acute stress modulated by seven sessions of mindfulness meditation in young males (2024) · cites this paper as terburg et al., 2009
Cites
Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions
Stroop, J. R. (1935) · Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0054651 · Cited by 18,622 · see citing works
LeDoux, J. E. (2000) · Annual Review of Neuroscience · doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.23.1.155 · Cited by 8,444 · see citing works
The influence of social hierarchy on primate health
Sapolsky, R. M. (2005) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1106477 · Cited by 2,113 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Through interaction of dominant and subordinate individuals, social hierarchies are established and, as stated earlier, social hierarchy and levels of testosterone and cortisol interact (Sapolsky, 2005).”
BackgroundEmotion, motivation, and anxiety: brain mechanisms and psychophysiology
Lang, P. J., Bradley, M. M., & Cuthbert, B. N. (1998) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0006-3223(98)00275-3 · Cited by 1,043 · see citing works
Neurobiology of Aggression and Violence
Siever, L. J. (2008) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.07111774 · Cited by 984 · see citing works
Functional Cross‐Talk Between the Hypothalamic‐Pituitary‐Gonadal and ‐Adrenal Axes
Viau, V. (2002) · Journal of Neuroendocrinology · doi:10.1046/j.1365-2826.2002.00798.x · Cited by 744 · see citing works
Popma, A., Vermeiren, R., Geluk, C. A. M. L., Rinne, T., van den Brink, W., Knol, D. L., Jansen, L. M. C., van Engeland, H., & Doreleijers, T. A. H. (2007) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.06.006 · Cited by 290 · see citing works
Low cortisol levels and the balance between punishment sensitivity and reward dependency
Honk, J. V., Schutter, D. J. L. G., Hermans, E. J., & Putman, P. (2003) · NeuroReport · doi:10.1097/00001756-200310270-00023 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Russo, S. J., Murrough, J. W., Han, M.-H., Charney, D. S., & Nestler, E. J. (2012) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.3234 · Cited by 1,206 · see citing works
Chronic stress, cognitive functioning and mental health
Marin, M.-F., Lord, C., Andrews, J., Juster, R.-P., Sindi, S., Arsenault-Lapierre, G., Fiocco, A. J., & Lupien, S. J. (2011) · Neurobiology of Learning and Memory · doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2011.02.016 · Cited by 654 · see citing works
Testosterone and cortisol jointly regulate dominance: evidence for a dual-hormone hypothesis
Mehta, P. H., & Josephs, R. A. (2010) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.08.020 · Cited by 574 · see citing works
Juster, R.-P., Bizik, G., Picard, M., Arsenault-Lapierre, G., Sindi, S., Trepanier, L., Marin, M.-F., Wan, N., Sekerovic, Z., Lord, C., et al. (2011) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579411000289 · Cited by 268 · see citing works
Márquez, C., Poirier, G. L., Cordero, M. I., Larsen, M. H., Groner, A., Marquis, J., Magistretti, P. J., Trono, D., & Sandi, C. (2013) · Translational Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/tp.2012.144 · Cited by 245 · see citing works
Genetic determinants of aggression and impulsivity in humans
Pavlov, K. A., Chistiakov, D. A., & Chekhonin, V. P. (2012) · Journal of Applied Genetics · doi:10.1007/s13353-011-0069-6 · Cited by 184 · see citing works
Impact of early adversity on glucocorticoid regulation and later mental disorders
Strüber, N., Strüber, D., & Roth, G. (2014) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.10.015 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
Geniole, S. N., Carré, J. M., & McCormick, C. M. (2011) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.02.020 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Terburg, D., & van Honk, J. (2013) · Emotion Review · doi:10.1177/1754073913477510 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Self-citationBakker-Huvenaars, M. J., Greven, C. U., Herpers, P., Wiegers, E., Jansen, A., van der Steen, R., van Herwaarden, A. E., Baanders, A. N., Nijhof, K. S., Scheepers, F., et al. (2020) · European Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2018.07.097 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Walker, S. E., Papilloud, A., Huzard, D., & Sandi, C. (2018) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.10.008 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Fan, Y., Cui, Y., Tang, R., Sarkar, A., Mehta, P., & Tang, Y.-Y. (2024) · Stress · doi:10.1080/10253890.2024.2316041 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
“…and usually has two forms: focus attention and open monitoring. in literature, iBMt is termed as a form of open-monitoring mindfulness meditation (terburg et al., 2009). as described in our prior work (Fan et al., 2014; Pawlow & Jones, 2005; scholey et al., 2009; tang, 2017; tang et al., 2007;…”
Influential
- Authors
- Terburg, D., Morgan, B., & van Honk, J.
- Affiliations
- Utrecht University (NL)
- University of Cape Town (ZA)
- Venue
- International Journal of Law and Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-07
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 216-223
- ISSN
- 0160-2527 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1987023433
- Cited by
- 266
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 23 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 11.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Law and Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Keywords
- testosterone/cortisol ratio, social aggression, antisocial personality disorder, psychopathy, proactive aggression, steroid hormones, cortisol, testosterone, aggression, criminal aggression, hormonal markers
- MeSH terms
- Aggression, Androgens, Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Facial Expression, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Male, Testosterone, Biomarkers, Expressed Emotion, Biomedical Research
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
