Abstract
Social interactions elicit androgen responses whose function has been posited to be the adjustment of androgen-dependent behaviors to social context. The activation of this androgen response is known to be mediated and moderated by psychological factors. In this study we tested the hypothesis that the testosterone (T) changes after a competition are not simply related to its outcome, but rather to the way the subject evaluates the event. In particular we tested two evaluative dimensions of a social interaction: familiarity with the opponent and the subjective evaluation of the outcome as threat or challenge. Challenge/threat occurs in goal relevant situations and represent different motivational states arising from the individuals’ subjective evaluation of the interplay between the task demands and coping resources possessed. For challenge the coping resources exceed the task demands, while threat represents a state where coping resources are insufficient to meet the task demands. In this experiment women competed in pairs, against a same sex opponent using the number tracking test as a competitive task. Losers appraised the competition outcome as more threatening than winners, and displayed higher post-competition T levels than winners. No differences were found either for cortisol (C) or for dehydroepiandrosterone. Threat, familiarity with the opponent and T response were associated only in the loser condition. Moderation analysis suggests that for the women that lost the competition the effect of threat on T is moderated by familiarity with the opponent.
Highlights
The responsiveness of androgens to social interactions has been established in behavioral endocrinology for many years (Wingfield et al, 1990; Oliveira, 2004)
Subsequent contrast analysis showed that there were no baseline differences in T levels between winners and losers [contrast: t(15) = 0.186, p = 0.854] and that only losers significantly increased their levels of T from pre- to post-competition [contrast: t(15) = 2.488, p = 0.025]
Cortisol (Figure 2B) Statistical analysis for C suggests that there was no overall variation of C levels throughout the competition [F(1, 15) = 1.035, FIGURE 1 | Competition outcome evaluation rating as a threat/ challenge for participants in the winner and loser condition with familiarity of the opponent as a covariate. (**) indicates significant differences at p ≤ 0.01
Summary
The responsiveness of androgens to social interactions has been established in behavioral endocrinology for many years (Wingfield et al, 1990; Oliveira, 2004). Testosterone (T) is known to respond in anticipation to a social challenge and as a function of its outcome, and this response is moderated by social context (Hsu et al, 2006; Oliveira, 2009). According to the “challenge hypothesis” (Wingfield et al, 1990), these changes in T levels have the function of adjusting the expression of T-dependent aggressive behavior to social context, avoiding the costs associated with keeping chronically elevated T levels when no social challenges are present or anticipated. A negative correlation between changes in DHEA and avoidance behavior has been reported (Rasmusson et al, 2004) and adolescent girls with aggressive conduct disorders show lower cortisol to DHEA ratios when compared with girls with non-aggressive conduct disorder (Pajer et al, 2006)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
