Exogenous testosterone increases status-seeking motivation in men with unstable low social status

Author(s)
Annabel Losecaat Vermeer, Isabelle Krol, Christian Gausterer, Bernhard Wagner, Christoph Eisenegger, Claus Lamm
Abstract

Testosterone is associated with status-seeking behaviors such as competition, which may depend on whether one wins or loses status, but also on the stability of one’s status. We examined (1) to what extent testosterone administration affects competition behavior in repeated social contests in men with high or low rank, and (2), whether this relationship is moderated by hierarchy stability, as predicted by the status instability hypothesis. Using a real effort-based design in healthy male participants (N = 173 males), we first found that testosterone (vs. placebo) increased motivation to compete for status, but only in individuals with an unstable low status. A second part of the experiment, tailored to directly compare stable with unstable hierarchies, indicated that exogenous testosterone again increased competitive motivation in individuals with a low unstable status, but decreased competition behavior in men with low stable status. Additionally, exogenous testosterone increased motivation in those with a stable high status. Further analysis suggested that these effects were moderated by individuals’ trait dominance, and genetic differences assessed by the androgen receptor (CAG-repeat) and dopamine transporter (DAT1) polymorphisms. Our study provides evidence that testosterone specifically boosts status-related motivation when there is an opportunity to improve one’s social status. The findings contribute to our understanding of testosterone’s causal role in status-seeking motivation in competition behavior, and indicate that testosterone adaptively increases our drive for high status in a context-dependent manner. We discuss potential neurobiological pathways through which testosterone may attain these effects on behavior.

Organisation(s)
Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Center for Teaching and Learning, Vienna Cognitive Science Hub
External organisation(s)
Medizinische Universität Wien, Fachhochschule Joanneum
Journal
Psychoneuroendocrinology
Volume
113
No. of pages
10
ISSN
0306-4530
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.104552
Publication date
03-2020
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
106025 Neurobiology, 501006 Experimental psychology
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Endocrine and Autonomic Systems, Psychiatry and Mental health, Biological Psychiatry, Endocrinology, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/exogenous-testosterone-increases-statusseeking-motivation-in-men-with-unstable-low-social-status(4281260a-90b8-48cd-825b-8cae896f43fb).html