Open Peer Commentary Mazur & Booth: Testosterone and dominance
Primacy of organising effects of testosterone
Anne Campbell a1, Steven Muncer a2andJosie Odber a2 a1 Psychology Department, Durham University, Durham, England DH1 3LE
a.c.campbell@durham.ac.uk a2 School of Health, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, England TS1 3BA
s.muncer@tees.ac.ukj.odber@tees.ac.uk
Abstract
A test of a biosocial model is reported in which we found
no impact of circulating testosterone on either status-seeking or
aggression. The fact that sex differences in competitiveness and
aggression appear in childhood strongly suggests that the major
impact of testosterone is organisational. Whereas dominance and
resources are linked among males, female aggression may be a
function of pure resource competition, with no element of
status-seeking.
