Men's testosterone levels predict competitiveness

December 4, 2006

After a man loses a challenge, whether or not he is willing to get back into the game depends on changes in his testosterone levels, according to new research at The University of Texas at Austin.

Robert Josephs and Pranjal Mehta, psychology researchers, examined why some men back down after losing a competition, while others choose to challenge their opponent again. Their research suggests the answer lies in what happens to a man’s testosterone levels after the competition.

Josephs and Mehta studied more than 60 men who competed against each other in pairs. The researchers measured participants’ testosterone levels and charged the men to complete the task of tracing through a pattern of numbers. After the competition, the researchers measured the men’s testosterone levels and asked whether each would like to compete again.

Among the men who lost the competition, 70 percent of those whose testosterone levels increased chose to compete again. But, 80 percent of those whose levels decreased declined to compete again.

The researchers were surprised to find changes in testosterone levels did not predict who would want to compete again among the men who won the competition. The researchers speculate winners may not be interested in facing the same opponent because the re-match might result in a loss.

The psychology researchers also wanted to reveal the basis for the participants’ changes in their testosterone levels. Surprisingly, winning or losing the competition had no effect on the men’s testosterone levels. Rather, participants’ pre-competition stress levels, as measured by cortisol, were powerful predictors of post-competition testosterone change, especially among losers. Previous research suggests people who have high levels of the stress hormone cortisol also have chronically high levels of stress and anxiety. The stress of losing may depress the release of catecholamines, chemical compounds such as dopamine and norepinephrine (nonadrenaline), which can cause a drop in testosterone.

The results from the psychology researchers’ study, “Testosterone Change After Losing Predicts the Decision to Compete Again,” will be published in the December issue of Hormones and Behavior.

The research validates the scientific assumption that changes in post-competition testosterone levels have consequences on human behavior.

“The study suggests our social behavior may, in part, be driven by changes in our hormone levels,” Mehta said. “When testosterone levels increase, we seem to become more dominant and driven to gain status. But, when testosterone levels drop, we seem to become more submissive.”

The researchers said a similar study should be conducted in women to determine whether the same pattern emerges. Although there is far less research on testosterone and social behavior in women, the researchers explain higher levels of testosterone in women may be associated with assertive, aggressive and dominant behaviors.

Source: University of Texas at Austin

4.2 /5 (21 votes)  

Rank 4.2 /5 (21 votes)
Tags

Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • Is Everyday Technology Killing Us?
    created12 hours ago
  • Exercise and weight loss
    created18 hours ago
  • Why do we have head aches? Our brains can't feel anything.
    created22 hours ago
  • "The end of diseases" by David Agus, interview from Daily Show with Jon Stewart
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • Oncolytic adenovirus
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • Nutrition label stuffs and diets
    createdFeb 02, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences

More news stories

Scientists strengthen memory by stimulating key site in brain

Ever gone to the movies and forgotten where you parked the car? New UCLA research may one day help you improve your memory.

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created 4 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Short fasting cycles work as well as chemotherapy in mice

Man may not live by bread alone, but cancer in animals appears less resilient, judging by a study that found chemotherapy drugs work better when combined with cycles of short, severe fasting.

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created 7 hours ago | popularity 4.9 / 5 (10) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Tai Chi program helps Parkinson's disease patients

An Oregon Research Institute (ORI) exercise study conducted in four Oregon cities has shown significant benefits for patients with mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease. In an original article published in the February 9, ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created 3 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Study finds MDs not always honest with patients

(AP) -- Trust your doctor? A survey finds that some doctors aren't always completely honest with their patients.

Medicine & Health / Health

created 4 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Drug costs, not volume, causes regional differences in Medicare drug spending

The cost of medications through Medicare's subsidized prescription drug program varies from region to region across the United States largely due to the use of more expensive brand-name drugs and not because of the amount ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created 4 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast


Astronomy team discovers nearby dwarf galaxy

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team led by UCLA research astronomer Michael Rich has used a unique telescope to discover a previously unknown companion to the nearby galaxy NGC 4449, which is some 12.5 million light years ...

Amasia: As next supercontinent forms, Arctic Ocean, Caribbean will vanish first

(PhysOrg.com) -- Geologists at Yale University have proposed a new theory to describe the formation of supercontinents, the epic process by which Earth’s major continental blocks combine into a single ...

Why are there so few fish in the Earth's oceans?

(PhysOrg.com) -- A Stony Brook University researcher has found that, contrary to popular belief, there are not plenty of fish in the sea.

Transparent iron? For the first time, an experiment shows that atomic nuclei can become transparent

At the high-brilliance synchrotron light source PETRA III, a team of DESY scientists headed by Dr. Ralf Röhlsberger has succeeded in making atomic nuclei transparent with the help of X-ray light. At the ...

Physicists build highly efficient 'no-waste' laser

A team of University of California, San Diego researchers has built the smallest room-temperature nanolaser to date, as well as an even more startling device: a highly efficient, "thresholdless" laser that ...

Most stretchable spider silk reported

The egg sac silk of the cocoon stalk of the cave spider Meta menardi is the most stretchable egg sac silk yet tested, according to a study published Feb. 8 in the open access journal PLoS ONE.