Recommendations for the study of women in hormones and competition research

Casto, Kathleen V.; Prasad, Smrithi

doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2017.05.009

Cited by 29 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 103 publications

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“…On an individual level, the fluctuations in basal sal-T were also positively related to both motivational outputs, but with elite women presenting stronger associations, as seen in a recent study on male athletes. 32 Speculatively, this linkage might reflect the expression of more male-typical competitive behaviors by elite (vs non-elite) women, 40 which might then influence T release to reinforce such behaviors and their competitive status. This is still a difficult area to interpret as T may be permissive to certain behaviors, but they are also highly individual with some situational and environmental dependency.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Basal and stress‐induced salivary testosterone variation across the menstrual cycle and linkage to motivation and muscle power

Cook

Kilduff

Crewther

2018

Scandinavian Med Sci Sports

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This study investigated salivary testosterone (sal-T) variation across the menstrual cycle in female athletes, at different competitive levels, and its association with motivation and neuromuscular power. Six elite and 16 non-elite female athletes were monitored on days 7 (D7), 14 (D14), and 21 (D21) across 3 menstrual cycles for basal sal-T concentrations and self-appraised motivation to train and compete. Two further measures were taken on D7, D14, and D21 across 2 menstrual cycles: (1) the sal-T response (delta change) to a physical stress test and (2) peak power (PP) response to a 6-second cycle sprint following a post-activation potentiation (PAP) stimulus. Basal sal-T concentrations increased by 17 ± 27% from D7 to D14 before decreasing by -25 ± 43% on D21 (P < .05), but this result was biased by elite females with higher sal-T (>102%) who showed larger menstrual changes. Motivation, sal-T reactivity to stress, and the PP responses to a PAP stimulus also varied by testing day (P < .05), in parallel with basal sal-T and in favor of the elite group. Furthermore, stronger within-subject relationships (P < .001) between basal sal-T and motivation emerged in the elites (r = .70-.75) vs the non-elite group (r = .41-.50). In conclusion, menstrual cycle changes in sal-T were more obvious in high-performing female athletes with higher sal-T concentrations. This was accompanied by greater training motivation, a more pronounced sal-T response to a physical stressor and greater neuromuscular power in the elite group. These results support observations that female athletes with higher T are more represented at elite levels of performance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Basal and stress‐induced salivary testosterone variation across the menstrual cycle and linkage to motivation and muscle power

Cook

Kilduff

Crewther

2018

Scandinavian Med Sci Sports

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“…Furthermore, while we examined cortisol as a moderator of testosterone's association with status-relevant dominant behavior, it is possible that for women, estrogens such as estradiol may bear greater behavioral consequences than testosterone (Casto and Prasad, 2017). Estradiol has been positively associated with status-seeking behaviors (implicit power motivation: Stanton and Schultheiss, 2007; assertiveness in women: Blake et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Basal testosterone’s relationship with dictator game decision-making depends on cortisol reactivity to acute stress: A dual-hormone perspective on dominant behavior during resource allocation

Prasad

Knight

Mehta

2019

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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The dual-hormone hypothesis proposes that testosterone's relationship with status-seeking behavior is moderated by cortisol. However, research testing this hypothesis has focused on basal cortisol; the potential moderating effect of the acute cortisol response to stress has been largely overlooked. The present research investigated the moderating role of cortisol responses to an acute stressor on basal testosterone's link with dominant, status-relevant decision-making. Also, given the multifaceted nature of the response to acute stress, cardiovascular and affective responses to the stressor were examined as alternative moderators of the testosterone-behavior relationship. Participants (N=112; 56% female) were exposed to a social-evaluative stressor, and their stress responses were measured. Participants subsequently engaged in a one-shot dictator game, wherein they were asked to split money ($10) with a confederate counterpart. The amount of money participants decided to keep for themselves was treated as a metric of dominant status-seeking behavior. For individuals who demonstrated lower cortisol responses to the stressor, basal testosterone was positively associated with more dominant behavior (i.e., keeping more money for oneself), but for those who showed higher cortisol responses, the testosterone-behavior relationship was suppressed. Moreover, other aspects of the stress response (i.e., cardiovascular and affective responses) did not moderate the relationship between basal testosterone and dictator game behavior. These results provide unique support for the dual-hormone hypothesis using markers of stress-induced cortisol change. The findings also suggest that the antagonistic effects of stress on testosterone's role in motivating status-relevant behavior may be specific to cortisol's role in the acute stress response.Basal testosterone's relationship with dictator game decisionmaking depends on cortisol reactivity to acute stress: A dual-hormone perspective on dominant behavior during resource allocation

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“…The multilevel model showed interactions between rounds and T, suggesting that the number of rounds played influenced the T response, but the confidence interval coefficient just varied by less than 10% with respect to that obtained when the influence of the round was not analyzed. All participants were males, and this important gender-related limitation must be addressed in future studies; many researchers are interested to know how hormonal fluctuations affect women when they face a high-ranked adversary [51].…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenging the Top Player: A Preliminary Study on Testosterone Response to An Official Chess Tournament

Mendoza

Jiménez

García-Romero

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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According to the Challenge Hypothesis, high levels of testosterone (T) are associated with status-seeking behaviors, especially in competitive situations. However, there have not been many studies about rivals’ social status and pre-competition neuroendocrine responses. The aim of this study was to analyze whether the participants in a chess tournament showed different pre-match testosterone and cortisol levels depending on differences in ELO (i.e., the International Chess Federation rating to rank the competitive potential and social status between players). The sample was six male participants (mean ± SD) aged 25.5 ± 8.4 years with experience in official tournaments of 16.33 ± 5.72 years and an average ELO rating of 2217.67 ± 112.67. Saliva samples were collected before each round for hormonal determination when participants competed against a rival with a different ELO rating. After five competition rounds per participant, higher rival pre-competition T concentrations were shown when playing against the best-rated participant, but there were no differences in cortisol (C). The multilevel model confirmed rises in rivals’ precompetitive T levels modulated by the difference in the opponent’s ELO rating. No significant changes were observed in C. The results suggest that the rival’s status can determine the opponent’s anticipatory neuroendocrine responses to an official chess tournament.

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Recommendations for the study of women in hormones and competition research

Cited by 29 publications

References 103 publications

Basal and stress‐induced salivary testosterone variation across the menstrual cycle and linkage to motivation and muscle power

Basal and stress‐induced salivary testosterone variation across the menstrual cycle and linkage to motivation and muscle power

Basal testosterone’s relationship with dictator game decision-making depends on cortisol reactivity to acute stress: A dual-hormone perspective on dominant behavior during resource allocation

Challenging the Top Player: A Preliminary Study on Testosterone Response to An Official Chess Tournament

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