“Testosterone Facilitates the Sense of Agency”, 2017-11 (; similar):
Sense of agency (SoA) refers to feelings of being in control of one’s actions. Evidence suggests that SoA might contribute towards higher-order feelings of personal control—a key attribute of powerful individuals. Whether testosterone, a steroid hormone linked to power in dominance hierarchies, also influences the SoA is not yet established.
In a repeated-measures design, 26 females participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to test the effects of 0.5 mg testosterone on SoA, using an implicit measure based upon perceived shifts in time between a voluntary action and its outcome. Illusions of control, as operationalized by optimism in affective forecasting, were also assessed.
Testosterone increased action binding but there was no statistically-significant effect on tone binding. Affective forecasting was found to be statistically-significantly more positive on testosterone.
SoA and optimistic expectations are basic manifestations of power which may contribute to feelings of infallibility often associated with dominance and testosterone.
SoA refers to the feeling of basic sensory-motor control over one’s actions.
Embodiment theories argue that such processes inform high-level mentality.
Administration of 0.5 mg of testosterone increased SoA in a sample of women.
Affective forecasting was statistically-significantly more positive on testosterone.
These data suggest novel mechanisms via which testosterone promotes power.