Testosterone, Aggression, Physical, and Personality Dimensions in Normal Adolescent Males

Abstract

Normal adolescent Swedish boys (58), aged 16, provided 2 sets of blood samples for plasma testosterone assays and data on a number of personality inventories and rating scales assessing aggression, impulsiveness, lack of frustration tolerance, extraversion and anxiety. Physical variables such as pubertal stage, height, weight, chest circumference and physical strength were measured. There was a significant association (r = 0.44) between plasma testosterone levels and self-reports of physical and verbal aggression, mainly reflecting responsiveness to provocation and threat. Lack of frustration tolerance was related to testosterone levels. About 40% of the variance in perfectly reliable testosterone measurements could be predicted from equally reliable physical + verbal aggression and lack of frustration tolerance scales. Pubertal stage was correlated with testosterone (r = 0.44), but the above-mentioned relationships could not be accounted for by pubertal stage as a 3rd common variable. Previous hypotheses relating testosterone to strong body build and antisocial behavior received only weak or no support.