The Testosterone Myth Persists

Despite decades of studies and major critiques showing weak or context‑dependent effects, the popular story that a single hormone (testosterone) deterministically causes male aggression and risk‑taking keeps reappearing in families, media, and policy debates. The persistence is sustained less by new evidence than by cultural shorthand, status‑threat narratives, and selective reporting that frames questions to confirm the trope. — This matters because biological reductivism for gendered behavior warps public understanding and can legitimize unequal treatment in law, workplace expectations, education, and health policy.