---
title: "High Testosterone Linked to F**kboy Behavior, Scientists Say"
description: "A new study complicates previous research associating testosterone with business success by linking the hormone with unethical behavior in sexual scenarios."
date: "2021-12-14"
modified: "2021-12-14"
authors:
  - name: "Noor Al-Sibai"
    job_title: "Senior Staff Writer"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/high-testosterone-male-behavior"
categories:
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Studies"
tags:
  - "Psychology"
  - "relationships"
  - "testosterone"
---

# High Testosterone Linked to F\*\*kboy Behavior, Scientists Say

![A new study complicates previous research associating testosterone with business success by linking the hormone with unethical behavior in sexual scenarios.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/high-testosterone-fuckboy-behavior.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Getty Images/Futurism \</em\>*

Researchers looking into the interplay between hormones and ethics discovered something that will shock nobody who dates men: that those with high testosterone levels end up being bigger jerks.

As [*PsyPost* reports](<https://www.psypost.org/2021/12/testosterone-levels-in-men-linked-to-unethical-behavioral-intentions-in-response-to-intrasexual-competition-62242>), a recent study out of HEC Montréal complicates previous research associating [high T-levels with business success](<https://www.inc.com/margaret-heffernan/is-testosterone-good-for-business-nope.html>) by linking the hormone with unethical behavior in sexual scenarios — or, in the popular lexicon, comportment that might be [characterized by the word "fuckboy](<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fuccboi#:~:text=fuccboi%20(plural%20fuccbois),too%20hard%20to%20be%20cool.>)," which refers to often-promiscuous men who treat the women they date as disposable.

The Canadian researchers' study focused on 83 men and 91 women who were asked to provide saliva samples — to test testosterone levels — and answer a series of questions, first about how they felt when romantically pursuing someone of the opposite sex who was also being pursued by someone else of their same sex, followed by questions about ethics such as how comfortable they felt "taking some questionable deductions on your income tax return" or "having an affair with a married man/woman."

Published in the *British Journal of Psychology*, the [resulting study](<https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjop.12525>) found that a positive correlation between high testosterone levels and willingness to engage in unethical behavior when it came to "intrasexual competition," the psychobabble term for when two or more men are vying for one woman's attention.

Interestingly, the correlation between testosterone and unethical behavior wasn't found for the men in the control section of the studies (who were asked about their laundry preferences) or for women in either the control or variable sections.

While the GEC Montréal study doesn't focus on the way these (presumable heterosexual or bisexual) men treat the women in question, the concept that men will behave more aggressively and less ethically when trying to "win" a woman is, in this reporter's book, classic fuckboy behavior.

The jury's still out, however, about whether high T-levels are related to being incapable of returning a text message.

**READ MORE:** [Testosterone levels in men linked to unethical behavioral intentions in response to intrasexual competition](<https://www.psypost.org/2021/12/testosterone-levels-in-men-linked-to-unethical-behavioral-intentions-in-response-to-intrasexual-competition-62242>) \[*PsyPost*\]

**More misogyny:** [*Study: Turns Out People Are Sexist To Female Robots Too*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/study-turns-out-people-are-sexist-female-robots>)

## Author
At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/noorfromfuturism.bsky.social>)