Cortisol boosts risky decision-making behavior in men but not in women
Abstract
Acute stress may escalate risky decision-making in men, while there is no such effect in women. Although first evidence links these gender-specific effects of stress to stress-induced changes in cortisol, whether elevated cortisol is indeed sufficient to boost risk-taking, whether a potential cortisol effect depends on simultaneous noradrenergic activation, and whether cortisol and noradrenergic activation exert distinct effects on risk-taking in men and women is unknown. In this experiment, we therefore set out to elucidate the impact of cortisol and noradrenergic stimulation on risky decision-making in men and women. In a fully-crossed, placebo-controlled, double-blind design, male and female participants received orally either a placebo, hydrocortisone, yohimbine, an alpha-2-adrenoceptor-antagonist leading to increased noradrenergic stimulation, or both drugs before completing the balloon analogue risk task, a validated measure of risk-taking. Overall, participants' choice was risk-sensitive as reflected in reduced responding in high- compared to moderate- and low-risk conditions. Cortisol, however, led to a striking increase in risk-taking in men, whereas it had no effect on risk-taking behavior in women. Yohimbine had no such effect and the gender-specific effect of cortisol was not modulated by yohimbine. Our data show that cortisol boosts risk-taking behavior in men but not in women. This differential effect of cortisol on risk-taking may drive gender differences in risky decision-making under stress.
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Cortisol led to a striking increase in risk-taking in men, whereas it had no effect on risk-taking behavior in women.
“In contrast, a recent study examining risky decision-making more broadly, found that cortisol led to a striking increase in risk-taking in men, whereas it had no effect on risk-taking behavior in women (Kluen, Agorastos, Wiedemann, & Schwabe, 2017).”
From Cued for Risk: Evidence for an Incentive Sensitization Framework to Explain the Interplay between Stress and Anxiety, Substance Abuse, and Reward Uncertainty in Disordered Gambling Behavior (2019) · cites this paper as Kluen, Agorastos, Wiedemann, & Schwabe, 2017
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The Impacts of Incentive Contracts and Hormones on Risk Taking
Desmoulins‐Lebeault, F., Desmoulins-Lebeault, F., Gajewski, J.-F., Meunier, L., Gajewski, J., & Meunier, L. (2022) · Finance · doi:10.3917/fina.pr.008 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Steroid Hormones in Social Science Research
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The effects of hydrocortisone and yohimbine on human behavior in approach-avoidance conflicts
Fricke, K., Alexander, N., Jacobsen, T., Krug, H., Wehkamp, K., & Vogel, S. (2023) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-023-06396-6 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Influence of glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptor stimulation on task switching
Deuter, C. E., Wingenfeld, K., Schultebraucks, K., Otte, C., & Kuehl, L. K. (2019) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.01.007 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“Although some studies found interaction of combined cortisol administration and noradrenergic stimulation on domains such as risk taking (Kluen et al., 2017) or social discounting (Margittai et al.”
Blunted cortisol reactivity and risky driving in young offenders – a pilot study
Couture, S., Ouimet, M. C., Dedovic, K., Laurier, C., Plusquellec, P., & Brown, T. G. (2018) · International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health · doi:10.1515/ijamh-2017-0123 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“BART), leading some authors to posit that the cortisol stress response reflects an individual difference in the reward processing circuitry [56], [57]; that is, stress (e.”
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How men react to women’s presence: A review and an agenda to expand team gender diversity research
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The relationship between acute stress and risk taking: The moderating effect of ease of excitation
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The Psychology of Poverty: Where Do We Stand?
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Adolescents take more risks on days they have high diurnal cortisol or emotional distress
Armstrong‐Carter, E., & Telzer, E. H. (2021) · Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100106 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“For instance, two studies found that cortisol was more strongly linked to risk taking behavior among young men compared to young women [20,25], and adolescent boys take more risks in social settings with peers, whereas young girls take more risks related to their parents [42].”
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Basal cortisol level modulates stress-induced opioid-seeking behavior
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“…of oral hydrocortisone ( ± yohimbine) effects on emotion processing (Reuter et al., 2002; van Stegeren et al., 2010), decision-making (Margittai, Nave et al., 2018; Margittai, van Wingerden et al., 2018; Kluen et al., 2017; Putman et al., 2010) and operant behavior (Schwabe et al., 2010, 2012).”
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Genetics of Risk-Taking Behavior: Current Knowledge, Challenges and Future Directions
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What can we learn from neurofinance?
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Chronic corticosterone impaired effortful motivation and risky decision-making in mice
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Wildfires and agricultural worker injury
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What can we learn from neurofinance?
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The Psychology of Poverty: Where Do We Stand?Preprint
Haushofer, J., & Salicath, D. (2023) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4675165 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
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Sex differences in risk/reward decision making
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Social Cognition and Consumer Psychology
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“Both alcohol-consumption and stress are associated with higher cortisol levels which in turn has been linked to enhanced risk taking in men but not in women [38–40].”
Risky decision-making in the balloon analogue risk task – the role of noradrenaline and cortisol
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“Dosages in our study were similar to the discussed studies (identical dosage: Kluen et al. 2017; Margittai et al. 2018; half the dosage, i.e., 10 mg each: Metz et al. 2020 ), making it unlikely that differences in findings were only dosage-related.”
InfluentialThe Impacts of Incentive Contracts and Hormones on Risk Taking
Desmoulins‐Lebeault, F., Desmoulins‐Lebeault, F., Gajewski, J., Meunier, L., Gajewski, J., & Meunier, L. (2023) · Finance · doi:10.3917/e.fina.pr.008
Verde, V., Wörther, H., Kühle, A., Grunwald, P., Tschaidse, L., Chojnacki, M., Ilmberger, S., Berente, S., Reisch, N., & Krämer, U. M. (2026) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2026.105953
van Herk, L., Bruinsma, B., de Weijer, A. D., & Geuze, E. (2026) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-026-07136-2
Gonadal hormones and impulsivity facets: moderating roles of cortisol and anxiety
Barel, E., Cohen, A., & Mahagna, L. (2026) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1871253
“Using experimental hydrocortisone administration, Kluen et al. (2017) demonstrated that acute cortisol elevation increased risk-taking behavior in men but not in women.”
Kurdziel, L. B. F., Vance, A., Dunn, A. K., Santhanaraman, M., Cremone‐Caira, A., & Hilaire, M. A. S. (2026) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs16091611
“…this relationship is modified by a number of factors (Duque et al., 2022), including sex: cortisol has been found to increase risky decision-making in men but not in women, and may reduce risk-taking in women, potentially reflecting decreased reward responsiveness under stress (Kluen et al., 2017).”
- Authors
- Kluen, L. M., Agorastos, A., Wiedemann, K., & Schwabe, L.
- Affiliations
- Universität Hamburg (DE)
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Schwabe, Lars
- Venue
- Psychoneuroendocrinology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-10
- Volume
- 84
- Pages
- 181-189
- ISSN
- 0306-4530 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2734788886
- Cited by
- 64
- References
- 61
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 8
- FWCI
- 3.03
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychoneuroendocrinology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- German Research Foundation DFG (SCHW1357/14-1)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Keywords
- cortisol, risk-taking, risky decision making, gender differences, acute stress, noradrenergic activation, yohimbine, alpha2-adrenoceptor antagonism, Balloon Analogue Risk Task, sex differences
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Choice Behavior, Decision Making, Double-Blind Method, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Male, Risk, Risk-Taking, Saliva, Sex Factors, Stress, Psychological, Yohimbine
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