Competitive scenarios increase competition in women: A meta-analysis.

Ayers, Jessica D.

doi:10.1037/ebs0000278

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…A second limitation was that we could not generalize our results to other women's populations due to the number of participants. However, our results partially support Ayers's (2023) and Fink et al (2014) results, even when these authors did not include hormonal effects. Third, we should have included some personality tests to enhance psychological information about the participants to be also included in the analyses.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…However, our central hypothesis was that the raters’ T and C levels could affect the judgment of potential rivals differentially according to the stimuli WHR. Ayers meta-analysis (2023) confirmed that presenting people with different competitive scenarios elicited highly competitive responses regardless of the domain studied (e.g., mating, attractiveness, social status, etc.). Based on those results, we presented volunteers with a competitive sexual scenario.…”

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confidence: 90%

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Women university students’ stereotypical assessments of potential women threatening rivals: Testosterone and cortisol effects on perception and judgment.

Hernández-López,

García-Granados,

Chavira-Ramírez

et al. 2024

Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences

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Testosterone and cortisol in women are involved in regulating social and sexual behavior. So far, research shows that the interaction of these hormones modulates dominant and submissive personalities, empathy, and reactive aggression. In this study, we investigated whether women's testosterone and cortisol contribute to attributing different characteristics of sexual threatening, attractiveness, success, dominance, and flirtatiousness to female morphs that vary in waist-to-hip ratio (WHR; 0.6, 0.7, 0.8) after being prepared to imagine a scenario of sexual competition. One hundred forty-two female volunteers recruited from various university faculties provided a 6-ml saliva sample for hormonal analyses and, subsequently, rated the five attributes for each morph. Testosterone and cortisol did not affect identifying the 0.7 WHR as the more sexually threatening. Participants with high testosterone and low cortisol gave demeaning rates to the three morphs, except for the dominance of the 0.7 morphs, which received high scores. These patterns might suggest this hormone profile is associated with women's proactive aggression, including rival derogation. In contrast, women with high testosterone and cortisol gave higher scores to all morphs except for dominance suggesting this hormone profile might be associated with threat detection. In summary, our results provide novel information on the effects of C and T on the interpretation of the sexual and social behavior of potential rivals according to their WHRs. Public Significance StatementThis study acknowledges that the synergistic action of feminine testosterone and cortisol effects induce a cognitive bias when qualifying putative behaviors of female morphs having 0.6, 0.7, and 0.8 waist-to-hip ratios. In general, demeaning ratings to all body shapes correlated with low cortisol and high testosterone levels, while appraising happened when both hormones were elevated. Finally, independently from hormones' actions, participants recognized the 0.7 waist-to-hip as the most threatening rival.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

mentioning

confidence: 90%

Women university students’ stereotypical assessments of potential women threatening rivals: Testosterone and cortisol effects on perception and judgment.

Hernández-López,

García-Granados,

Chavira-Ramírez

et al. 2024

Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences

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Female Intrasexual Competition and Its Link to Menopausal Stage, Sex Hormone Levels, and Personality Characteristics

Fiacco

Arpagaus

Mernone

et al. 2021

Front. Glob. Womens Health

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Background: Female intrasexual competition (ISC) represents a unique form of social interaction. It describes behaviors primarily applied to enhance a woman's ability to outcompete other women. Previous research suggests that female ISC is influenced by personality characteristics and sex hormones. Although these factors most likely interact to predict female ISC, no previous study has investigated those factors in parallel in order to link theories from social psychology and biology. Women at the end of the reproductive lifespan represent the ideal study population, as they allow for a controlled hormonal environment.Materials and Methods: Healthy pre- (N = 53) and postmenopausal (N = 56) women were classified according to the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop (STRAW+10) criteria. In the follicular phase (for premenopausal women) or on a random day (for postmenopausal women), questionnaires were administered to assess the general tendency to compete intrasexually and the tendency to compete on appearance, attention/interpersonal success, and competence. Additionally, personality characteristics (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and self-esteem) were assessed. On the same day, each subject provided an 8 a.m. saliva sample for estradiol, testosterone, progesterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate. T-tests tested for between-group differences and separate multiple linear regression models tested for an effect of continuous hormone levels and personality characteristics on ISC. Further models were run, testing for an interaction with menopausal stage.Results: No group differences in ISC were evident (all p > 0.05). In premenopausal women, estradiol levels positively predicted the competition for attention (β = 2.103, p = 0.022). In postmenopausal women, self-esteem predicted the tendency to compete overall (β = −0.208, p < 0.001), on appearance (β = −0.061, p = 0.01), on competence (β = −0.087, p < 0.001), and on attention/interpersonal success (β = −0.060, p = 0.01).Discussion: These results, though cross-sectional, suggest that women continue to compete intrasexually in postmenopause, giving rise to new questions about the function of female ISC. If confirmed, the findings will indicate that hormones guide competitiveness in fertile women, whereas self-esteem accounts for individual differences in competitiveness post-reproduction. Particularly the function of postmenopausal ISC warrants further investigation.

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Competitive scenarios increase competition in women: A meta-analysis.

Cited by 2 publications

References 41 publications

Women university students’ stereotypical assessments of potential women threatening rivals: Testosterone and cortisol effects on perception and judgment.

Women university students’ stereotypical assessments of potential women threatening rivals: Testosterone and cortisol effects on perception and judgment.

Female Intrasexual Competition and Its Link to Menopausal Stage, Sex Hormone Levels, and Personality Characteristics

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