Testosterone helps women survive in 'social jungle'

RAISED levels of testosterone in women can make them less trusting of men.

Scientists have found that women were not so easily taken in by a stranger's face after receiving a dose of the hormone.

The findings suggest that one role of testosterone may be to aid survival in the "social jungle".

Although normally thought of as the male hormone, testosterone fuels the sex drive of both men and women.

Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists said:

"The attribution of trust toward unfamiliar others was especially decreased in subjects who run the greatest risk of being misled by others, that is, those who grant trust easily.

"Testosterone increased social vigilance in trusting humans, presumably to better prepare them for hard-edged competition over status and resources."