Social Sciences Division, New College of Florida, United States of America; Department of Psychology, Emory University, United States of America; Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, United States of America; US Army CCDC Soldier Center, United States of America.
Department of Psychology, Emory University, United States of America.
Horm Behav. 2020 Jul;123:104665. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104665. Epub 2020 Jan 25.
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 well-studied in relation to real-time expressions of competitive behavior among men and women. This research 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 group - with increasing testosterone predicting better performance and decreasing testosterone predicting worse performance. For women, the effect only emerged among individuals who competed in dyads and lost. In Study 2, an exploratory mediation analysis revealed that individual differences in trait dominance predicted 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.
睾酮在竞争期间会发生短暂变化，据认为这会积极影响旨在提高社会地位的支配行为。然而，个体对睾酮对竞争状态反应的差异与男性和女性的竞争行为的实时表达之间的关系尚未得到充分研究。这项研究测试了竞争期间内源性睾酮水平变化与竞争耐力表现之间的关联。参与者的性别、社会存在以及相对地位结果（例如，获胜与失败）被测试为这种关系的调节因素。在两项研究中，男性和女性（总 N=398）分别在个体或有对手的情况下（研究 1）或作为团队在有和没有竞争团队的情况下（研究 2）参加竞争意愿任务（定时举重）。结果表明，男性的睾酮反应性与表现之间存在正相关关系，尤其是那些在组内获胜或排名最高的男性——睾酮水平升高预示着表现更好，而睾酮水平降低预示着表现更差。对于女性，只有在双人竞争中失败的个体中才会出现这种效果。在研究 2 中，一项探索性中介分析表明，特质支配力的个体差异预测了竞争对睾酮的反应性和任务表现，而睾酮反应性（由性别和地位结果调节）部分解释了与支配力相关特质和行为之间的直接关系。我们的目标是研究睾酮反应性与实时竞争努力的关系，并强调这种关系在解释特质支配力的个体差异如何产生竞争行为方面的潜在作用。
