Psychology Commons^™

Investigation Of The Organizational And ​Activational Effects Of Testosterone On Empathy, Samantha Urban, Rachael Arnold, Jess Dahm, Raul Rodriguez-Calvillo

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Empathy is integral to individual, relational, and cognitive health. Sex differences in empathy are prominent, yet investigation of the biological basis is lacking. Since men have higher testosterone levels than women on average, sex differences in empathic ability may be partially due to sex differences in testosterone. Testosterone has negatively correlated with empathy in men, but not women. More research is needed on how findings differ based on measuring organizational and activational effects of testosterone, with some studies showing prenatal testosterone exposure positively associated with affective empathy in women while others demonstrate heightened levels of activated testosterone reduced or impaired …