Graumann Livia, Kulakova Eugenia, Cho An Bin, Deuter Christian Eric, Wolf Oliver T, Schell Jill, Hellmann-Regen Julian, Roepke Stefan, Otte Christian, Wingenfeld Katja
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité - Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universitaet Berlin, Humboldt, Universitaet zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Hindenburgdamm 30, Berlin 12203, Germany; DZPG (German Center for Mental Health), Berlin, Germany.
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité - Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universitaet Berlin, Humboldt, Universitaet zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Hindenburgdamm 30, Berlin 12203, Germany.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2025 Jan;171:107232. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107232. Epub 2024 Nov 3.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is marked by unstable relationships and fear of abandonment. Earlier studies suggest that patients with BPD are highly sensitive to social exclusion and show deficits in trust and cooperation. The hormone testosterone influences such prosocial behavior and regulates aggressive and caring behavior. Previous studies show elevated testosterone levels in female patients with BPD at baseline and after psychosocial stress, while results after social exclusion are missing.
We investigated the effects of social exclusion on prosocial behavior (sharing and punishment) and salivary testosterone in female patients with BPD. Ninety-eight patients with BPD and 98 healthy females matched for menstrual cycle were randomly assigned to an overinclusion or exclusion condition of the virtual ballgame Cyberball. Afterwards, participants played two games in which they could share money with a fictional player ("dictator game") and accept or reject (= punish) offers from a player ("ultimatum game").
Female patients with BPD displayed higher testosterone levels than the control group before and after Cyberball. Social exclusion did not affect testosterone levels. Patients with BPD exhibited more prosocial behavior by sharing more money than controls and punished co-players for unfair offers equally often.
We replicated previous findings of elevated testosterone in female patients with BPD and showed that it is not affected by experimentally induced social exclusion. Regardless of social exclusion, patients with BPD showed more prosocial behavior, which may reflect a status-seeking strategy to secure their social standing.
边缘型人格障碍（BPD）的特征是人际关系不稳定和害怕被抛弃。早期研究表明，BPD患者对社会排斥高度敏感，在信任和合作方面存在缺陷。睾酮激素会影响此类亲社会行为，并调节攻击行为和关爱行为。先前的研究显示，BPD女性患者在基线时以及心理社会应激后睾酮水平升高，而社会排斥后的结果尚无相关研究。
我们研究了社会排斥对BPD女性患者亲社会行为（分享和惩罚）及唾液睾酮水平的影响。98名BPD患者和98名月经周期匹配的健康女性被随机分配到虚拟球类游戏“赛博球”的过度接纳或排斥条件组。之后，参与者进行两场游戏，在游戏中她们可以与虚构玩家分享金钱（“独裁者游戏”），并接受或拒绝（即惩罚）玩家的提议（“最后通牒游戏”）。
在进行“赛博球”游戏前后，BPD女性患者的睾酮水平均高于对照组。社会排斥并未影响睾酮水平。BPD患者通过比对照组分享更多金钱表现出更多亲社会行为，并且同样频繁地因不公平提议惩罚共同玩家。
我们重复了先前关于BPD女性患者睾酮水平升高的研究结果，并表明其不受实验诱导的社会排斥影响。无论社会排斥情况如何，BPD患者都表现出更多亲社会行为，这可能反映了一种寻求地位以确保其社会地位的策略。
