Male sex hormones and criminal behavior: The predictive power of a two-factor model of organizational androgen exposure

•Research on fetal sex hormones and criminal behavior is not consistent.•An alternative measure of organizational androgens is taken.•Traditional 2D:4D predicts two indexes of self-reported criminal behavior.•The alternative measure does not outperform 2D:4D.

Research on the relationship between prenatal testosterone and criminal behavior has produced mixed results. The 2D:4D digit ratio is typically employed as the measure of prenatal testosterone, but its proxy nature might play a role in the inconsistent findings. This study examines the usefulness of a multi-item approach to the measurement of organizational androgens. Principal components factor analysis of data from a convenient sample of adults reveals that two factors emerge from five androgen-promoted trait items. These two factors, however, do not predict self-reported criminal behavior better than the single right-hand 2D:4D digit ratio item. It is concluded that a multi-item measurement strategy is unlikely to be a more predictive measure of organizational androgens than digit ratio.