Testosteron verändert die Art und Weise, wie Männer lernen, persönlichen Schaden zu vermeiden, und macht sie empfindlicher gegenüber negativen Folgen, wenn ihr eigenes Wohlbefinden auf dem Spiel steht.

From the article: A single dose of testosterone can alter the fundamental learning processes men use to avoid harm, making them more sensitive to negative outcomes when their own well-being is on the line. The study, [published](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2025.109108) in the journal Biological Psychology, reveals a nuanced role for the hormone, suggesting it fine-tunes self-preservation mechanisms, which in turn affects prosocial behavior.

Testosterone is associated with the pursuit of social status, but most studies have focused on behaviors related to acquiring rewards. Less understood is the hormone’s role in avoiding harm, a behavior that is equally significant for one’s standing in a group. Successfully avoiding harm to oneself signals strength and competence, while avoiding harm to others demonstrates moral character and builds a trustworthy reputation. Scientists hypothesized that testosterone might support both self-protective and prosocial harm avoidance, but that it might achieve this through distinct computational mechanisms in the brain.

To investigate this, the study team recruited 120 healthy male university students. In a double-blind procedure, participants were randomly assigned to receive either a single dose of testosterone gel or an identical-looking placebo gel applied to their shoulders. Three hours later, after the hormone had reached peak levels in the body, the participants began a learning task designed to measure how they learn to prevent harm to themselves and to a stranger.

In the task, participants repeatedly chose between two abstract symbols on a screen. One symbol had a high probability (75%) of avoiding a mild electric shock, while the other had a low probability (25%). In some blocks of trials, the potential shock was for the participant himself (the “Self” condition). In other blocks, the shock was for another participant, a confederate who they believed was in an adjacent room (the “Other” condition). Over 64 trials for each condition, participants had to learn through trial and error which symbol was the safer choice.

Interesting study.

There is no doubt testosterone impacts a lot in the body, but I have never heard of short term affects.

I use Testosterone gel myself, and I am offen in doubt if I remembered to put it on. There is no different feeling from being at really high levels or really low levels short term.

Interesting study showing that the effect of hormones is far more domplex than many people think.
Here testosterone is not only for one single effect.

And very important especially now in the light of testosterone deficiency in young people nowadays and the related testosterone supplementation