Abstract. During conflicts over resources (contests), differences between opponents (asymmetries), which can result in settlement, may be revealed through behaviour patterns constrained by static variables such as body mass (assessment signals), or by labile, potentially dishonest behaviour (contextual signals). Little is known about how contextual signals may settle complex contests. This study investigates how the effects of pre-contest social treatments on labile aspects of internal states influence contest behaviour in male green anoles, Anolis carolinensis. Lizards were subjected to one of two pre-contest treatments which manipulated levels of internal factors that influence the propensity to win contests. Low-level lizards were residents for half an hour in a contest arena. High-level lizards were residents for 20-24 h with a subordinate male and a female present. Comparisons were subsequently made between three contest types: low level; high level and asymmetric. Contests were staged by removing an opaque partition separating two residents. Each contest type generated different behaviour patterns, and the frequency with which these behaviour patterns were displayed appeared to be particularly important in separating contest types. In asymmetric contests, high-level lizards won 20 of 23 contests, but the differences in treatment-level did not have detectable effects on behaviour. In all contests, many behaviour patterns of winners were correlated with those of losers. This suggests that opponents matched behaviour, while subtle interactions between opponents caused different contest-types to follow different courses. A lizard could become aware of an asymmetry by its opponents behaviour without a clear behavioural difference between opponents.