Testosterone reactivity to competition and competitive endurance in men and women

Abstract

Transient shifts in testosterone occur during competition and are thought to positively influence dominance behavior aimed at enhancing social status. However, individual differences in testosterone reactivity to status contests have not been studied in relation to real-time expressions of competitive behavior among men and women. This study tests the association between changes in endogenous testosterone levels during competition and performance in terms of competitive endurance. Participant sex, social presence, and relative status outcomes (e.g., winning vs. losing) are tested as moderators of this relationship. In two studies, men and women (total N=398) competed in the competitive will task (timed weight-holding) either individually or in the presence of an opponent (Study 1) or as a team with and without the presence of a competitor team (Study 2). Results showed a positive relationship between testosterone reactivity and performance for men, particularly those who won or ranked highest among their groupincreasing testosterone predicting better performance. For women, the effect was weak overall and only emerged among women in dyads who lost. In Study 2, an exploratory mediation analysis revealed that individual differences in trait dominance predict both testosterone reactivity to competition and task performance, with testosterone reactivity (moderated by sex and status outcome) partially explaining the direct relationship between dominance-related traits and behavior. Our goal was to examine testosterone reactivity in relation to real-time competitive effort and highlight the potential role of this relationship in explaining how individual differences in trait dominance produce competitive behavior.

Hormonal Contraceptive Use and Cycle Phase Effects on Competitive Persistence: Progesterone as a Mediating Mechanism (Stage 1 Registered Report)

“…The United Nations estimates that, worldwide, approximately 25% of women of reproductive age (36% among those who are unmarried) use a hormonal-based contraceptive, either pill or injection (rates vary by world region, United Nations, 2019) 2 . In our own research, 30-50% of our university-based sample of mostly white women aged 18-21 years reported using oral contraceptives at the time of testing, with less than 10% using other hormonally-based contraceptive methods (e.g., patch, implant), and around 10% using an intrauterine device (Casto et al, 2020).…”

“…We propose a registered report to attempt to replicate the Casto et al (2020) finding that HC users show lower competitive persistence than non-users. Further, we propose to extend this research in several ways.…”

“…Self-reported competitive behavior directed towards other women, presumably for access to desired mates (e.g., intrasexual competitiveness), has also been found to be lower among users compared to non-users (Cobey et al, 2013). In a recent study of competitive persistence, Casto et al (2020) found that women using HCs more broadly (most were oral contraceptive users) had significantly lower task performance than naturally cycling women. Although this finding was not predicted a priori, it is consistent with recent research showing that HC usage reduces persistence in non-competitive cognitive tasks (Bradshaw et al, 2020;Griksiene et al, 2018).…”

“…The laboratory task in Casto et al (2020) involved participants holding up a small weight at arm's length and shoulder height for time in competition against one or more participants.…”

Testosterone increases risk-taking for status but not for money

“…Theoretical models of testosterone (Archer, 2006;Mazur & Booth, 1998) postulate that testosterone fluctuates with social challenges and predicts status-relevant risky behaviors, such as aggression (reviewed in Geniole & Carré, 2018), competition (Casto, Edwards, Akinola, Davis, & Mehta, 2020;Losecaat Vermeer et al, 2020;Mehta & Josephs, 2006;Mehta, Son, et al, 2015), and social trust (Boksem et al, 2013). While some work controlled for individual risk-taking by using a separate nonsocial task (Boksem et al, 2013;Eisenegger, Kumsta, Naef, Gromoll, & Heinrichs, 2017), no studies to date tested whether testosterone alters risk-taking with direct status implications, and whether this depends on individuals' social status levels (see Fisk, Miller, & Overton, 2017).…”