Hormones and biological sex | AQA A-Level Psychology Revision
- Revision Notes
- Aug 5
- 20 min read
Updated: 7 hours ago
For 7182 specification, first teach in September 2025
AQA A-Level Psychology | Free Revision Notes
Estimated study time: 55 minutes
Hormones influence sexual development and may contribute to differences in behaviour. These Hormones and biological sex A-Level Psychology revision notes explain the roles of testosterone, oestrogen and oxytocin, including their effects on sexual characteristics, menstruation, stress responses, nurturing, trust and social bonding. You will also evaluate whether complex differences in sex and gender-related behaviour can be explained through hormone levels alone.
This topic develops the chromosomal foundations of biological sex and prepares you for androgen insensitivity, Klinefelter’s syndrome and Turner syndrome. The current AQA specification explicitly names testosterone, oestrogen and oxytocin as hormones students must understand in relation to biological sex.
Learning Objectives 🎯
By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:
Define hormones and explain how they influence biological development.
Explain the role of testosterone in typically male sexual development.
Explain the role of oestrogen in typically female sexual development.
Explain the proposed role of oxytocin in stress responses, nurturing, trust and bonding.
Apply hormonal explanations to unfamiliar scenarios.
Evaluate hormonal explanations using research evidence and psychological issues and debates.
Revision Notes 📚
Hormones and biological sex A-Level Psychology revision overview
Hormones are chemical messengers that travel through the bloodstream and affect particular organs or body tissues.
Hormones contribute to:
The development of primary sexual characteristics.
The development of secondary sexual characteristics.
Reproductive functioning.
Menstruation.
Some emotional and social behaviours.
Responses to stress.
Bonding and nurturing behaviour.
The three hormones named in the AQA Gender specification are:
Testosterone
Oestrogen
Oxytocin
These hormones should not be treated as belonging exclusively to one sex. People produce all three, although typical levels and their developmental effects differ.
Overview of the three hormones
Hormone | Typical association | Main roles emphasised by AQA |
Testosterone | Typically higher in males | Male sexual characteristics, aggression and possible effects on sexually dimorphic brain structures |
Oestrogen | Typically higher in females | Female sexual characteristics, menstruation and possible emotional effects |
Oxytocin | AQA materials describe higher typical levels in females | Stress responses, nurturing, trust and social or pair bonding |
AQA’s 2022 mark scheme identifies these roles and links testosterone with male sexual characteristics, oestrogen with female sexual characteristics and menstruation, and oxytocin with responses to stress, nurturing and trust.
Hormones interact with chromosomes
Chromosomes and hormones are parts of the same developmental process.
In typical male biological development:
YYY chromosome → SRY gene → testes develop → testosterone is produced → typically male sexual characteristics develop
The YYY chromosome does not directly create every male sexual characteristic. The SRY gene normally initiates testicular development, and the testes then produce androgens, particularly testosterone.
In typical female biological development, the absence of the SRY pathway is associated with ovarian development and oestrogen becoming an important influence on sexual development.
This means that:
Chromosomes provide genetic instructions.
Gonads produce hormones.
Hormones act on body tissues.
Body tissues must be able to respond to the hormones.
The final point is particularly important when studying hormone sensitivity in biological development.
Hormones do not operate in isolation
A hormonal explanation should not be presented as:
“A hormone directly causes a complete pattern of behaviour.”
A more accurate sequence is:
Chromosomal development affects gonadal development.
Gonads produce particular patterns of hormones.
Hormones influence body and brain development.
Hormonal effects interact with other biological and environmental factors.
Behaviour develops through the combined influence of these processes.
Hormone levels can influence development without determining every aspect of a person’s identity, personality or behaviour.
Testosterone
What is testosterone?
Testosterone is an androgen involved in typically male sexual development.
It is produced in substantially higher quantities by the testes than is typically found in females.
The SRY gene normally causes the testes to develop. The testes then produce testosterone.
A clear explanation therefore follows this sequence:
SRY gene → testicular development → testosterone production → typically male sexual development
Testosterone and male sexual characteristics
Testosterone contributes to the development of typically male sexual characteristics.
These include reproductive and secondary sexual characteristics associated with male development.
AQA’s mark scheme describes testosterone as determining male sexual characteristics. For examination purposes, students should clearly link the hormone with the development of typically male biological features rather than merely stating that males have more testosterone.
A developed answer might state:
“The SRY gene on the YYY chromosome normally initiates the development of the testes. The testes produce testosterone, which contributes to typically male sexual characteristics.”
Testosterone and the brain
AQA materials identify a possible relationship between testosterone and the size of a sexually dimorphic nucleus, or SDN, within the hypothalamus.
Sexually dimorphic means that a structure shows typical differences between males and females.
The proposed process is that testosterone contributes to sex-related differences in brain development.
However, identifying a difference in a brain structure does not by itself establish:
That testosterone was its only cause.
That the structure produces a particular behaviour.
That every male and female brain follows the same pattern.
Brain development is complex, and individual variation must be considered.
Testosterone and aggression
Testosterone has been linked with aggression in psychological research.
The proposed explanation is that higher testosterone levels may increase the likelihood of aggressive or dominant behaviour.
However, this does not mean that:
Everyone with high testosterone will behave aggressively.
Males are inevitably aggressive.
Testosterone is the only cause of aggression.
Social circumstances are unimportant.
Aggression is influenced by many factors, including learning, social expectations and the situation in which behaviour occurs.
📌 Exam tip: When using aggression research to evaluate hormonal explanations, always link the evidence back to sex or gender-related behaviour. Do not write an unrelated paragraph about aggression.
Research involving non-human animals
Young investigated the effects of exposing female rats to male hormones. AQA identifies this as evidence that hormones can change behaviour.
This may support a hormonal explanation because:
Hormone exposure was manipulated.
Behaviour changed after hormonal intervention.
This suggests a possible causal relationship.
However, research using rats has limited generalisability to humans.
Human gender-related behaviour is influenced by:
Language.
Culture.
Conscious thought.
Social expectations.
Personal identity.
Complex interpersonal experiences.
Animal evidence can demonstrate a biological mechanism, but it cannot fully explain human behaviour.
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia and testosterone
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia, or CAH, is associated with higher than usual prenatal exposure to androgens.
Research cited by AQA has found that females with CAH may show:
Increased aggression.
More male-typed interests or behaviour.
Increased cross-gender behaviour.
Berenbaum and Bailey linked CAH with increased aggression and behaviour traditionally described as less conventionally feminine. Hines also reported increased cross-gender behaviour among individuals with CAH.
This evidence supports a hormonal explanation because greater androgen exposure is associated with differences in behaviour.
Evaluating evidence from CAH
Research involving people with CAH has an advantage over animal studies because it investigates human development.
However, several limitations remain.
Other biological differences may be involved
CAH is a complex biological condition. Differences between people with and without CAH may not be caused solely by testosterone.
Treatment and medical experiences may affect development
Individuals may have different medical experiences, which could influence behaviour and identity.
Social responses may differ
Parents and others may treat a child differently after learning about their condition.
Behaviour could therefore reflect an interaction between:
Hormone exposure.
Physical development.
Social experiences.
Expectations from other people.
CAH research supports a hormonal contribution but cannot prove that testosterone independently determines gender-related behaviour.
Research involving hormonal changes
Van Goozen studied the effects associated with people receiving opposite-sex hormones.
AQA materials identify changes involving:
Aggression.
Visuospatial skills.
This may support hormonal explanations because behavioural changes occurring alongside hormonal changes are consistent with the view that hormones influence behaviour.
However, the evidence does not mean that hormones are the only cause.
Participants may also experience changes in:
Social treatment.
Self-confidence.
Expectations.
Identity expression.
Life circumstances.
Changes occurring at the same time as hormone treatment may therefore have several possible explanations.
Oestrogen
What is oestrogen?
Oestrogen is a hormone involved in typically female sexual development.
It is normally produced in higher quantities in females and is associated with:
The development of typically female sexual characteristics.
Reproductive functioning.
The menstrual cycle.
The typical process can be represented as:
ovarian development → oestrogen production → typically female sexual development
AQA mark schemes describe typical female development in an XXXXXX chromosome pattern as being governed primarily by oestrogen.
Oestrogen and female sexual characteristics
Oestrogen contributes to the development and maintenance of typically female sexual characteristics.
A strong examination explanation should make the biological connection clear:
“Oestrogen is normally present at higher levels in females and contributes to typically female sexual characteristics and reproductive functioning.”
Avoid vague statements such as:
“Oestrogen makes someone female.”
This ignores the roles of:
Chromosomes.
Gonadal development.
Other hormones.
The body’s sensitivity to hormones.
Oestrogen and menstruation
Oestrogen plays an important role in menstruation and the menstrual cycle.
Hormone levels change across the cycle, contributing to changes in reproductive functioning.
For the Gender topic, the key examination point is that oestrogen:
Is associated with typical female biological development.
Contributes to the menstrual cycle.
Has been linked to changes in emotional behaviour.
Detailed biological descriptions of every stage of the menstrual cycle are not required by the Gender specification.
Oestrogen and emotional behaviour
AQA materials identify a possible link between oestrogen and emotional behaviour, including behaviour associated with premenstrual syndrome.
This has been used to suggest that hormonal fluctuations may contribute to changes in:
Mood.
Irritability.
Emotional responses.
However, care is needed when interpreting this explanation.
It would be inaccurate to claim that:
Oestrogen makes all women emotional.
All women experience the same changes.
Hormonal fluctuations inevitably cause particular behaviour.
Emotional behaviour is explained solely by reproductive hormones.
Such claims are biologically deterministic and may reinforce stereotypes.
Individual differences in hormonal effects
People differ in:
Typical hormone levels.
Changes in hormone levels.
Sensitivity to hormones.
Physical development.
Emotional responses.
Social experiences.
Two people experiencing similar hormonal changes may not display identical behaviour.
This individual variation challenges simple cause-and-effect claims such as:
“A particular level of oestrogen always produces a particular emotion.”
Hormonal explanations are more convincing when they describe increased probabilities or biological influences rather than inevitable outcomes.
Oxytocin
What is oxytocin?
Oxytocin is a hormone associated with social and emotional processes.
AQA materials link oxytocin with:
Responses to stress.
Nurturing behaviour.
Trust.
Pair bonding.
Oxytocin is sometimes described informally as a “bonding hormone”. This phrase can be useful as a memory aid, but it risks oversimplifying its functions.
A more accurate examination description is:
“Oxytocin is thought to contribute to nurturing, trust, social bonding and sex-related differences in responses to stress.”
Oxytocin and sex differences
AQA’s 2022 mark scheme states that oxytocin levels are typically higher in females and may influence several sex differences in behaviour.
These include differences in:
Stress responses.
Nurturing behaviour.
Trust.
This does not mean that:
Oxytocin is present only in females.
All females are naturally nurturing.
Males cannot display nurturing or trusting behaviour.
Oxytocin independently causes complex social behaviour.
The hormone is one possible biological influence within a much larger psychological and social system.
Oxytocin and stress
Taylor proposed that females may be more likely to display a tend-and-befriend response to stress.
This involves:
Protecting or caring for offspring.
Seeking contact with others.
Forming or using social support networks.
Oxytocin has been proposed as one biological influence contributing to this response.
The contrast is often made with the fight-or-flight response, which involves confronting or escaping a threat.
Fight or flight | Tend and befriend |
Confronting or escaping a stressor | Caring for others and seeking social connection |
Emphasises immediate threat response | Emphasises nurturing and social support |
Traditionally associated more strongly with males | Traditionally associated more strongly with females |
Does not occur only in males | Does not occur only in females |
AQA materials identify responses to stress as one possible behavioural difference influenced by oxytocin.
Avoiding an absolute sex difference
It would be inaccurate to write:
“Men fight or run away, while women care for children and make friends.”
This turns a proposed average difference into an absolute rule.
A better explanation is:
“Oxytocin has been proposed as one factor contributing to a greater tendency towards tend-and-befriend responses in females, although people of any sex may use social support or fight-or-flight responses.”
Oxytocin and nurturing behaviour
Oxytocin has been linked to nurturing and caring behaviour.
This may include behaviour involved in:
Caring for infants.
Responding to another person’s needs.
Forming close social bonds.
A hormonal explanation suggests that sex-related differences in oxytocin may contribute to average differences in nurturing behaviour.
However, nurturing is also influenced by:
Learning.
Social roles.
Personal experience.
Cultural expectations.
Opportunities to provide care.
A parent or carer may become more nurturing through experience and reinforcement, regardless of sex.
Oxytocin and trust
Research cited in AQA mark schemes has linked oxytocin with trust.
Trust is important in:
Close relationships.
Cooperation.
Social bonding.
Reliance on other people.
A hormonal explanation proposes that oxytocin influences biological systems involved in social connection.
However, trust also depends on:
A person’s previous experiences.
The behaviour of the other individual.
The social situation.
Perceived risk.
Cultural expectations.
Oxytocin cannot explain why someone trusts one person but distrusts another without considering the context.
Oxytocin and pair bonding
Insel investigated oxytocin and pair bonding in prairie voles.
The findings are used to support the view that oxytocin contributes to social bonds.
This is consistent with a hormonal explanation because:
Oxytocin activity is associated with bonding behaviour.
Biological processes appear to influence social attachment.
The hormone may help explain why close bonds form and are maintained.
However, prairie voles are not humans.
Human relationships involve:
Language.
Conscious decisions.
Social norms.
Personal histories.
Expectations about commitment.
Cultural meanings.
Animal findings therefore provide evidence for a possible biological mechanism but cannot fully explain human social relationships.
Oxytocin does not always produce prosocial behaviour
It is tempting to describe oxytocin as simply causing:
Love.
Trust.
Kindness.
Bonding.
This is too simplistic.
The effect of a hormone can depend on:
The individual.
The social setting.
Previous experiences.
The target of the behaviour.
Other biological processes.
For examination purposes, use cautious language such as:
“May influence”.
“Has been linked with”.
“Contributes to”.
“Is associated with”.
Avoid writing that oxytocin automatically causes trust or nurturing.
Comparing testosterone, oestrogen and oxytocin
Feature | Testosterone | Oestrogen | Oxytocin |
Typical sex association | Higher in males | Higher in females | AQA materials describe higher levels in females |
Main biological role | Typically male sexual development | Typically female sexual development and menstruation | Social bonding and stress-related behaviour |
Behavioural association in AQA materials | Aggression and some gender-related behaviour | Emotional behaviour linked with menstrual changes | Nurturing, trust and tend-and-befriend responses |
Supporting evidence | Animal hormone research, CAH and hormonal treatment research | Associations with menstrual and emotional changes | Prairie vole bonding and research into trust or stress responses |
Main evaluation issue | Aggression is multiply determined | Risk of reinforcing stereotypes about female emotion | Complex social behaviour cannot be reduced to one hormone |
Hormones and diversity in sex development
Diversity in sex development demonstrates that hormone effects depend on more than the amount of hormone produced.
Androgen insensitivity syndrome
In androgen insensitivity syndrome:
The person usually has an XYXYXY chromosome pattern.
The SRY gene normally initiates testicular development.
The testes produce androgens.
Body tissues are partly or completely insensitive to the androgens.
This means typical male external sexual development may not occur even though testosterone or other androgens are produced.
AIS demonstrates that biological development depends on:
hormone production + hormone sensitivity
Hormone levels alone cannot explain the outcome.
Klinefelter’s syndrome
A person with Klinefelter’s syndrome has an XXYXXYXXY chromosome pattern.
The YYY chromosome usually causes testes to develop, but characteristics can include:
Small testes.
Lower testosterone production.
Reduced development of some typically male secondary sexual characteristics.
This illustrates the interaction between chromosome pattern and hormone production.
Turner syndrome
A person with Turner syndrome has an X0X0X0 chromosome pattern.
Possible characteristics include:
Ovaries that do not develop typically.
Reduced production of oestrogen.
Limited development of secondary sexual characteristics without hormonal treatment.
This again shows that chromosomes affect biological sex partly through their effects on gonads and hormones.
These patterns are examined fully in chromosome, hormone and anatomical variation.
Hormones, biological sex and gender-related behaviour
The current specification places testosterone, oestrogen and oxytocin under their role in biological sex. It later requires biological explanations of gender development, including hormones.
These two uses should be distinguished.
Hormones and biological sex
This concerns physical development, including:
Sexual characteristics.
Gonadal functioning.
Menstruation.
Hormonal responses within the body.
Hormones and gender-related behaviour
This concerns possible influences on behaviour, including:
Aggression.
Nurturing.
Trust.
Responses to stress.
Interests or behaviour traditionally associated with a gender.
Hormonal influences on gender development are explored further in chromosome-based and hormonal explanations.
Biological sex is not the same as gender identity
Hormone levels do not automatically determine how a person identifies.
The lesson on binary, non-binary and gender-fluid identities examines gender identity separately.
Hormonal explanations should therefore not be used to assume:
A person’s identity.
Their preferred gender roles.
Their interests.
Their personality.
Their behaviour in every situation.
Evaluating hormonal explanations
Strength: hormonal explanations identify biological mechanisms
Hormonal explanations offer a clear account of how chromosomal differences can affect physical development.
For example:
The YYY chromosome usually contains the SRY gene.
SRY initiates testicular development.
The testes produce testosterone.
Testosterone contributes to typically male sexual characteristics.
This sequence identifies a biological mechanism rather than simply observing that males and females differ.
It gives the explanation scientific value because biological variables can potentially be:
Measured.
Compared.
Manipulated in some research.
Related to observable outcomes.
Strength: evidence from hormone exposure supports a causal influence
Research in which hormones are altered can provide evidence that hormones influence behaviour.
For example:
Male hormones given to female animals produced behavioural changes.
People receiving opposite-sex hormones have shown changes in some behavioural or cognitive measures.
When hormone levels change before behaviour changes, this is consistent with a causal explanation.
However, causal conclusions are strongest in controlled animal studies and are more difficult to establish in human research.
Strength: naturally occurring variations provide useful evidence
Research involving CAH and androgen insensitivity helps psychologists examine what happens when:
Androgen exposure is unusually high.
The body cannot respond typically to androgens.
Hormone production differs from typical patterns.
These variations provide useful comparisons that could not ethically be created experimentally in humans.
They support the conclusion that hormones make a meaningful contribution to biological sex and some gender-related behaviours.
Limitation: much supporting evidence comes from animals
Research involving rats or prairie voles can manipulate hormones under controlled conditions.
This is a methodological strength because it becomes easier to investigate cause and effect.
However, animal findings may not generalise fully to humans.
Human behaviour is affected by:
Self-awareness.
Language.
Culture.
Social learning.
Personal values.
Conscious decisions.
Pair bonding in prairie voles cannot be treated as a complete model of a human romantic relationship.
Limitation: naturally occurring groups contain confounding variables
Research involving CAH or other developmental variations cannot randomly allocate people to biological conditions.
Participants may differ in:
Physical development.
Medical treatment.
Family experiences.
Social treatment.
Knowledge of their condition.
Any behavioural differences cannot be attributed confidently to a single hormone.
This makes the evidence valuable but less controlled than a true experiment.
Limitation: correlation does not establish causality
A study may find that higher testosterone is associated with greater aggression.
This cannot show whether:
Testosterone increases aggression.
Aggressive experiences alter testosterone.
A third variable affects both.
The association depends on the social situation.
A hormonal explanation requires evidence of a mechanism and causal direction, not merely a correlation between two measures.
Limitation: hormonal explanations can be biologically reductionist
Biological reductionism explains complex behaviour through lower-level biological processes.
A hormonal explanation may reduce:
Aggression to testosterone.
Emotional behaviour to oestrogen.
Trust or nurturing to oxytocin.
This can make the explanation:
Clear.
Testable.
Scientifically measurable.
However, meaning may be lost when social context and personal experience are ignored.
For example, trust depends not only on oxytocin but also on whether the other person has behaved reliably.
Hormonal explanations should therefore be combined with higher-level psychological and social explanations.
This issue is explored in levels of explanation in Psychology.
Limitation: hormonal explanations may be biologically deterministic
Biological determinism suggests that behaviour is governed by biological factors.
A strongly deterministic hormonal explanation could imply that:
Testosterone makes aggression unavoidable.
Oestrogen makes emotional behaviour inevitable.
Oxytocin makes females naturally nurturing.
These conclusions underestimate individual choice and environmental influence.
Hormones may create tendencies, but behaviour is not usually inevitable.
A person can:
Control an aggressive impulse.
Learn different ways of responding to stress.
Develop nurturing behaviour through experience.
Behave differently across situations.
This distinction links with biological influences and personal control.
Limitation: hormonal explanations may reinforce gender stereotypes
Research about hormones is socially sensitive because findings can be used to support stereotypes such as:
Men are naturally aggressive.
Women are naturally emotional.
Caring roles are biologically female.
Gender differences cannot change.
Such claims may affect:
Education.
Employment.
Parenting roles.
Public policy.
How individuals are treated.
Researchers must distinguish carefully between:
An average difference.
A universal characteristic.
A biological influence.
An inevitable outcome.
This connects with the possible consequences of psychological findings.
Limitation: cultural differences challenge a purely hormonal account
Hormone patterns alone cannot easily explain why gender roles vary across cultures and historical periods.
If behaviour were fixed entirely by hormones, similar patterns would be expected everywhere.
Instead, cultures differ in expectations concerning:
Aggression.
Emotional expression.
Childcare.
Employment.
Masculinity and femininity.
This suggests that hormones interact with social and cultural experiences.
The contribution of these influences is explored in social and cultural influences on gender roles.
Strength: hormonal and social explanations can be interactionist
Hormonal explanations do not have to exclude environmental influences.
An interactionist approach proposes that biological tendencies interact with experience.
For example:
Testosterone may influence sensitivity to status or provocation.
Social norms determine when aggression is accepted or punished.
Oxytocin may influence bonding.
Experience determines who is trusted and how nurturing behaviour is expressed.
Oestrogen may affect biological processes.
Social expectations influence how emotional changes are interpreted.
This interactionist account is more complete than either:
“Hormones cause everything.”
“Hormones have no influence.”
It combines heredity and environmental experience.
Overall conclusion
Hormones make an important contribution to biological sex.
Testosterone contributes to typically male sexual development and has been linked with aggression and some gender-related behaviours.
Oestrogen contributes to typically female sexual development and menstruation and has been linked with emotional changes.
Oxytocin has been linked with nurturing, trust, bonding and responses to stress.
Research involving hormone manipulation, CAH and animal bonding provides support for hormonal influences.
However, hormonal explanations become incomplete when they:
Rely too heavily on animal research.
Infer causality from correlations.
Ignore individual differences.
Reduce complex behaviour to one chemical.
Treat average differences as universal rules.
Overlook learning, culture and personal experience.
The most defensible conclusion is that hormones influence biological development and behavioural tendencies, but their effects depend on other biological, psychological and social factors.
Hints from the Examiner Reports 💡
Examiner hint: Keep every research paragraph focused on the wording of the question. In 2022, many students discussed testosterone or the YYY chromosome and aggression without explaining what the evidence showed about sex or gender. The evidence was not necessarily irrelevant, but it needed a clear link to the question.
Examiner hint: Cover all the hormones named in the question. An extended answer devoted entirely to testosterone will be incomplete when oestrogen and oxytocin are also required.
Examiner hint: Explain a biological sequence. Do not write three disconnected statements about chromosomes, testes and testosterone.
Use:
SRY → testes → testosterone → typically male sexual characteristics
Examiner hint: Separate biological sex from gender-related behaviour. Development of sexual characteristics is not the same as aggression, nurturing or gender identity.
Examiner hint: Shape animal evidence carefully. State what the research found, what hormonal explanation it supports and why generalising to humans is difficult.
Examiner hint: Evaluation must be developed. Writing “the study used animals” is a starting point. Explain that human gender-related behaviour is affected by language, learning and culture, so animal findings may not generalise.
Examiner hint: Use issues and debates accurately. A hormonal explanation is reductionist when it explains complex behaviour through chemicals. It is deterministic when it suggests that those chemicals make behaviour inevitable.
Examiner hint: Avoid stereotypical absolutes. Use phrases such as “typically higher”, “may influence” and “has been associated with”.
Examiner hint: In a 16-mark discussion question, evaluation carries substantial weight. The 2022 chromosome-and-hormone question allocated 666 marks to AO1 and 101010 marks to AO3, so a descriptive answer could not reach the highest level.
Common Mistakes ⚠️
Mistake: Saying males have testosterone and females have oestrogen
Why this is incorrect:
People produce both hormones. Typical levels and effects differ.
How to improve:
Write that testosterone is typically higher in males and oestrogen is typically higher in females.
Mistake: Saying the YYY chromosome produces testosterone
Why this is incorrect:
The SRY gene normally causes testes to develop. The testes then produce testosterone.
How to improve:
Use the complete developmental sequence.
Mistake: Describing testosterone only as the aggression hormone
Why this is incorrect:
Its central role in this topic is typically male sexual development. Aggression is one proposed behavioural association.
How to improve:
Explain sexual characteristics first, then use aggression as supporting or evaluative material.
Mistake: Claiming testosterone causes all male aggression
Why this is incorrect:
Aggression is influenced by biological, psychological and social factors.
How to improve:
State that testosterone may increase a tendency towards aggression rather than making aggression inevitable.
Mistake: Saying oestrogen makes women emotional
Why this is incorrect:
This is an exaggerated and stereotypical interpretation of possible links between hormonal changes and emotional behaviour.
How to improve:
Refer cautiously to associations between hormonal fluctuations, menstruation and emotional changes.
Mistake: Calling oxytocin the love hormone without explanation
Why this is incorrect:
The phrase does not explain the relevant psychological processes.
How to improve:
Link oxytocin with nurturing, trust, pair bonding or tend-and-befriend responses.
Mistake: Saying only females produce oxytocin
Why this is incorrect:
Oxytocin is not exclusive to females.
How to improve:
Discuss typical sex differences in levels or effects rather than complete presence or absence.
Mistake: Assuming all females tend and befriend
Why this is incorrect:
Tend and befriend is a proposed average tendency, not a universal rule.
How to improve:
Use cautious language and acknowledge individual and situational differences.
Mistake: Using animal evidence as direct proof about humans
Why this is incorrect:
Human social and gender-related behaviour is influenced by complex cognitive and cultural processes.
How to improve:
Use animal studies to support a possible biological mechanism and then evaluate generalisability.
Mistake: Treating a correlation as cause and effect
Why this is incorrect:
An association between testosterone and aggression does not establish which variable caused the other.
How to improve:
Identify the direction-of-causality problem and possible third variables.
Mistake: Discussing only biological development in an evaluation question
Why this is incorrect:
Evaluation requires evidence, methodological issues, debates or comparison with alternative explanations.
How to improve:
Develop paragraphs on animal research, causality, reductionism, determinism and interaction with social learning.
Mistake: Inferring gender identity from hormone levels
Why this is incorrect:
Hormones contribute to biological development but do not alone determine a person’s gender identity.
How to improve:
Keep biological sex, gender identity and gender-related behaviour distinct.
Exam-Style Questions ✍️
Questions
1. Name the three hormones specified by AQA in relation to biological sex.[3 marks]
2. Outline the role of testosterone in biological sex development.[3 marks]
3. Explain the role of oestrogen in biological sex.[3 marks]
4. Explain two possible roles of oxytocin in behaviour.[4 marks]
5. Genetic testing shows that Robin has an XYXYXY chromosome pattern. Robin’s SRY gene has initiated testicular development.
Explain the likely role of testosterone in Robin’s biological development.[4 marks]
6. A psychologist measures testosterone concentration and aggression scores in six participants.
Participant | Testosterone concentration | Aggression score |
A | 3 | 8 |
B | 5 | 10 |
C | 6 | 13 |
D | 8 | 15 |
E | 10 | 18 |
F | 12 | 20 |
a) Describe the relationship shown in the table.[2 marks]
b) Explain why the psychologist cannot conclude that testosterone caused the aggression scores.[2 marks]
7. A researcher gives a group of non-human animals a hormone treatment and observes a change in social bonding.
Explain one strength and one limitation of using this research to investigate oxytocin.[4 marks]
8. Sam says, “Testosterone makes men aggressive, oestrogen makes women emotional and oxytocin makes women naturally caring.”
Use your knowledge of hormonal explanations to explain two problems with Sam’s claims.[6 marks]
9. Outline one strength and one limitation of hormonal explanations of sex and gender-related behaviour.[6 marks]
10. Discuss the role of hormones in biological sex and gender-related behaviour. Refer to testosterone, oestrogen and oxytocin in your answer.[16 marks]
Answers and Mark Scheme
Question 1
Award one mark for each:
Testosterone.
Oestrogen.
Oxytocin.
Question 2
Award up to three marks:
Testosterone is an androgen associated with typically male sexual development.
The SRY gene normally initiates testicular development.
The testes produce testosterone, which contributes to typically male sexual characteristics.
Question 3
Award up to three marks:
Oestrogen is normally present at higher levels in females.
It contributes to typically female sexual characteristics.
It has an important role in menstruation or the menstrual cycle.
Credit cautious reference to possible emotional effects.
Question 4
Award up to two marks for each explained role.
Possible content:
Oxytocin may contribute to nurturing behaviour.
It may influence trust and social bonding.
It may promote pair bonding.
It may contribute to tend-and-befriend responses during stress.
One mark may be awarded for naming a role and a second for relevant elaboration.
Question 5
Award up to four marks:
The YYY chromosome normally contains the SRY gene.
SRY has initiated the development of testes.
The testes produce testosterone.
Testosterone contributes to typically male primary or secondary sexual characteristics.
Question 6a
Award up to two marks:
There is a positive correlation.
As testosterone concentration increases, aggression score also tends to increase.
Question 6b
Award up to two marks:
The data show an association rather than a controlled manipulation.
Aggression could affect testosterone, or another variable could affect both testosterone and aggression.
Do not credit a claim that the relationship proves testosterone causes aggression.
Question 7
Award up to two marks for the strength and two marks for the limitation.
Possible strength:
Hormone levels can be manipulated while other variables are controlled. A change in bonding behaviour would therefore provide evidence of a possible causal influence.
Possible limitation:
Non-human bonding behaviour may not generalise to humans because human relationships involve language, culture and conscious thought.
Question 8
Award up to three marks for each developed problem.
Possible content includes:
Hormones influence tendencies rather than making behaviour inevitable, so Sam’s claims are biologically deterministic.
Aggression, emotional behaviour and caring are influenced by social learning and culture as well as hormones.
Sam incorrectly assumes every male or female shows the same behaviour.
The claims reinforce socially sensitive gender stereotypes.
Testosterone, oestrogen and oxytocin are not exclusive to one sex.
Oxytocin does not automatically cause caring in every situation.
Evidence linking oestrogen with emotional changes does not justify the general claim that women are emotional.
Question 9
Award up to three marks for a developed strength and three marks for a developed limitation.
Possible strength:
Research involving hormone treatment and naturally occurring differences such as CAH supports the view that hormone exposure influences biological development and some behaviour. This gives hormonal explanations empirical support.
Possible limitation:
Hormonal explanations are biologically reductionist because they may explain complex behaviour through chemical activity while ignoring learning, culture and individual experience.
Alternative creditworthy limitations include:
Animal research may not generalise.
Correlations cannot establish causality.
Naturally occurring groups contain confounding variables.
Hormonal explanations may be deterministic or socially sensitive.
Question 10
A strong response should include:
Knowledge and understanding
The definition and role of hormones.
The interaction between chromosomes, gonads and hormones.
SRY, testes and testosterone.
Testosterone and typically male sexual characteristics.
Testosterone and possible links with aggression or brain development.
Oestrogen and typically female sexual characteristics.
Oestrogen and menstruation.
Possible links between oestrogen and emotional behaviour.
Oxytocin and nurturing behaviour.
Oxytocin and trust.
Oxytocin and pair bonding.
Oxytocin and tend-and-befriend responses.
Evaluation
Animal hormone studies support biological mechanisms.
Animal evidence may not generalise to complex human behaviour.
Evidence from CAH supports an influence of androgen exposure.
CAH and other naturally occurring groups contain confounding variables.
Hormone-treatment evidence may support behavioural effects.
Correlational evidence cannot demonstrate causality.
Hormonal explanations may be biologically reductionist.
Strong hormonal accounts may be biologically deterministic.
Findings may be socially sensitive and reinforce stereotypes.
Cultural variation challenges a purely biological explanation.
Hormones are likely to interact with learning, culture and social experience.
Higher-level responses will cover all three named hormones, connect research directly to sex or gender-related behaviour and develop evaluation rather than merely naming studies or psychological debates.
Comments