Having more or less testosterone in your body does not change how likely you are to take risks. In other words, testosterone levels and risk-taking behavior are not connected.

See the scientific wording

There is no association between testosterone levels and risk-taking behavior in humans.

Supporting

High

2 studies

Contradicting

Moderate

2 studies

There's disagreement

Randomized trials

The 4 studies we reviewed point in different directions — there's no clear consensus.

What the research says

4 studies reviewed

Supporting (2)

High

Investigating the effects of single-dose intranasal testosterone on economic preferences in a large randomized trial of men
Randomized Controlled TrialHuman2025
A big study gave some men testosterone and others a fake treatment, and found they took the same risks. Also, men with naturally different testosterone levels didn't show different risk-taking.
Does a single dose of testosterone increase willingness to compete, confidence, and risk-taking in men? Evidence from two randomised placebo-controlled experiments funding.
Randomized Controlled TrialHuman2024
The study gave men a shot of testosterone and then had them play games involving risk. They found no difference in risk-taking between the guys who got the shot and those who got a placebo, so it seems testosterone doesn't affect risk-taking.

Contradicting (2)

Moderate

Individual differences in risk taking and endogeneous levels of testosterone, estradiol, and cortisol: A systematic literature search and three independent meta‐analyses
Systematic Review With Meta-AnalysisMeta-analysis2018
The study looked at many people and found that those with more testosterone tend to take slightly more risks, so testosterone and risk-taking are connected, not unrelated.
Opposing Roles of Testosterone and Cortisol in Prosocial Risk-Taking
Cross-Sectional StudyHuman2026
The study found that people with more testosterone actually took more risks, which means testosterone and risk-taking are connected, contradicting the claim.

Quality-weighted scoring: we follow the GRADE framework — each study is rated High, Moderate, Low, or Very Low based on study design, methodology rigor, and risk of bias. A single high-quality RCT can outweigh several weaker observational studies.

Scores reflect study quality, not just count.

Score breakdown, mechanism chain, raw evidence, ideal studies needed & 2 supporting, 2 contradicting studies

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