| Abstract | Previous research demonstrates that testosterone facilitates psychological and physiological preparedness for competitive interactions while boosting the achievement motivation that drives one to compete. Despite these benefits, testosterone production is costly, for elevated testosterone production requires greater energetic investment and can cause immunosuppression in the short term as well as accelerated aging in the long term. However, no research has yet examined whether testosterone production is sensitive to the benefits of testosterone-mediated striving and effort, relative to the costs of elevated testosterone production. This study aims to examine the hypothesis that increases in the benefits associated with elevated testosterone - manipulated by the value of a reward (low vs. high) and role of effort (vs. random chance) in determining competitive success - will result in an increase in testosterone production from pre- to post-competition. Preliminary results from 99 undergraduate students who participated in an in-lab competition revealed trends in support of the hypothesis. Specifically, those in the random condition or low-reward condition exhibited a drop in testosterone production. Those in the effort condition or high-reward condition displayed an increase in testosterone production and improved competitive performance compared to those in the random condition and low-reward condition. Overall, these preliminary findings suggest that participants' testosterone production is sensitive to contextual factors which impact how "worth it" it is to increase investment in testosterone. |
