Short CommunicationTestosterone responses to competition predict decreased trust ratings of emotionally neutral faces
Introduction
A wealth of research indicates that testosterone (T) has a powerful modulatory effect on social cognitive processes (McCaul and Singer, 2012). Notably, a single administration of T significantly decreases ratings of trustworthiness from facial stimuli (Bos et al., 2010) and trust behavior (Boksem et al., 2013). The relevance of this effect for understanding complex social behaviors, however, remains unclear because T administration has been conducted exclusively in women in these studies. Moreover, despite the importance of using T administration to establish causation, it is critical to understand how fluctuations in endogenous T map onto social cognitive processes. Here, we examined whether endogenous fluctuations in T during a competitive interaction would predict changes in trust ratings made of emotionally neutral faces. To the extent that emotionally neutral male faces are perceived as relatively threatening (Becker et al., 2007), and that exogenous T administration promotes vigilance toward social threat (Terburg et al., 2012), we predicted that a rise in T during competition would predict decreased ratings of trust from emotionally neutral faces.
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Participants
Ninety-six participants (45 men and 51 women, Mage = 19.40, SD = 1.21) were recruited from the ongoing Duke Neurogenetics Study. All participants provided written informed consent in accord with the Duke University Medical Center Institutional Review Board. Participants were instructed to refrain from eating any large meals or brushing their teeth at least 2 h prior to the experimental session. All testing took place between 11h00 and 17h00.
Procedure
Participants were first asked to provide ratings of
Baseline and reactive testosterone in men and women
As expected, men had significantly higher T concentrations (M = 80.40 pg/mL, SE = 4.94) compared to women (M = 37.66 pg/mL, SE = 3.72; t93 = 7.02, p < 0.001). In contrast, there were no sex-differences in pre- to post-PSAP changes in T (men: M = 13.5%, SE = 6.77; women: M = 20.1%, SE = 12.3; t89 = −0.46, p = 0.65). A one sample t-test indicated a significant increase in T from pre-PSAP to post-PSAP (M = 16.99%, SE = 7.22; t90 = 2.35, p = 0.021). When the same analysis was performed separately for men and women, the increase in
Discussion
The current study reports the novel finding that acute changes in T in response to a competitive interaction predict decreased ratings of trust in a sex-dependent manner. Specifically, a rise in T during competition predicted a decrease in ratings of trust from emotionally neutral faces in men, but not women. Notably, baseline levels of T did not predict ratings of trust for either men or women.
Previous studies conducted exclusively in women have reported that a single administration of T
Role of the funding sources
The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation did not play a role in data collection, analysis, interpretation, or decision to submit this manuscript for publication.
Conflict of interest
None declared.
Acknowledgment
This project was funded by a Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation grant (#175104) to JMC and ARH.
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2022, Hormones and BehaviorEffects of male testosterone and its interaction with cortisol on self- and observer-rated personality states in a competitive mating context
2019, Journal of Research in PersonalityCitation Excerpt :Across three studies (total N = 224 men), antagonistic behaviour during a competitive interaction (Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm, PSAP) was associated positively with T reactivity, but not baseline T, in men (Carré, Putnam, & McCormick, 2009; Geniole, Busseri, & McCormick, 2013; Geniole, Carré, & McCormick, 2011). In another study (Carré, Baird-Rowe, & Hariri, 2014), men’s (n = 42, but not women’s, n = 41) decreased trust ratings of emotionally neutral faces were predicted by their T increases, but not baseline T, after having engaged in the PSAP. In one of the first studies on the effects of competition-induced T dynamics on behaviour (Mehta & Josephs, 2006), T changes in males (N = 57) after having engaged in a rigged one-on-one competition predicted the motivation to compete again, rather than doing a cooperative task after the initial competition, in losers, but not winners.
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2019, Biophysical Measurement in Experimental Social Science Research: Theory and PracticeFunctional significance of men's testosterone reactivity to social stimuli
2017, Frontiers in NeuroendocrinologyCitation Excerpt :Further, could it be that these changes in testosterone act as proximate mechanisms mediating life-history strategies similar to what is generally observed for basal testosterone levels? In humans, a growing body of research suggests that contest-related testosterone fluctuations map onto aggressive behavior (Carré et al., 2009, 2013, 2014b), competitive motivation (Mehta and Josephs, 2006; Carré and McCormick, 2008a), physical strength (Cook and Crewther, 2012), and mistrust (Carré et al., 2014a). For example, in a series of studies using the Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP)—a well-validated method for measuring reactive aggression (reviewed in Geniole et al., 2017b)—Carré and colleagues (2009, 2013) found that increased testosterone was associated with reactive aggression, or aggression used in retaliation to provocation from a competitor (for a review, see Carré and Olmstead, 2015).