[ARCHIVED] Lono's compilation thread on testosterone, social rank, and other related subjects

[Andromeda88]

Testosterone levels positively predict social success and negatively predict physical aggression. Socially dominant young boys were found to have more testosterone in their teens. "T levels could be a signal of social success rather than of physical aggression, as suggested first by Sapolsky (1991), examining experiential influences on T and CORT secretion in male baboons in natural environment, concluded that aggressiveness and social status were associated with higher T, while subordinates were with lower levels, and more recently in human adolescents by Schaal, Tremblay, Soussignan, and Susman (1996) in a study that analyzed the association of male pubescent T with social dominance and physical aggression. Boys perceived as socially dominant by unfamiliar peers, from age 6 to 12, were found to have concurrently higher levels of T at age 13 than boys perceived as less socially dominant. 626 J.M. Ramirez / Aggression and Violent Behavior 8 (2003) 621–644In contrast, boys who had a history of high physical aggression, during the same age range, had lower T levels at age 13 compared with boys with no such a history. T levels therefore were positively associated with social success rather than with physical aggression. High T levels in adolescent boys may thus be regarded as a marker of social success in a given context, rather than of social maladjustment as suggested in previous studies. Adolescents may try to gain social status through dominance and leadership, using aggressive and assertive methods. If successful, T is expected to increase, and if unsuccessful, T would decrease because the negative status associated with failure. " A very comprehensive study on testosterone and personality traits TABLE 1. Correlations Between Individual Testosterone Levels and Inventory Scales (N=58) Correlation Scale Coefficient ®a 1. From Olweus Aggression Inventory Physical Aggression 0.36xxx Verbal Aggression 0.38xxx Physical + Verbal Aggression 0.44xxx Aggressive Attitude and Impulses 0.10 Aggression Inhibitory Responses -0.03 Preference for Physical Sports 0.03 2. From Olweus Q Inventory Aggression 0.10 Self-Confidence (Toughness) 0.18 Feelings of Maladjustment and Inadequacy -0.08 Closeness to Parents -0.20 3. Lack of Frustration Tolerance 0.28x Antisocial Behavior 0.15 4. From Thurstone Temperament Schedule Vigorousness 0.09 Tempo 0.10 5. From Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Extraversion-lmpulsivity 0.06 Extraversion-Sociability 0.08 Extraversion (total) 0.13 Psychoticism 0.15 6. Impulsiveness 0.16 Monotony Avoidance 0.22 7. From MCA Somatic Anxiety 0.03 Psychic Anxiety 0.10 Muscular Tension 0.07 Anxiety (total) 0.07 8. FromCPI Socialization scale -0.18 9. FromSOQ Session 1 Worried last night (with Testosterone Session 1) —0.02 Worried this morning (with Testosterone Session 1) -0.06 Unpleasantness of venipuncture (with Testosterone Session 1) -0.11 Composite of all 3 items (with Testosterone Session 1) -0.08 Session 2 Unpleasantness of venipuncture (with Testosterone Session 2) 0.13 On a two-tailed test (df=56), correlations of 0.26 and 0.34 are needed for significance at the 0.05 (x) and 0.01 (xx)levels, respectively. On applying a one-tailed test (for the Aggression, Self-Confidence, Lack of Frustration Tolerance, and Antisocial Behavior scales), the corresponding values are 0.22 and 0.31. A correlation of 0.34 is then significantat the 0.005 level (xxx). Closer analysis of the individual items of the Verbal and Physical Aggression scales revealed an interesting pattern: It was primarily items involving a response to provocation, including threat or unfair treatment, that showed a clear correlation with testosterone levels (Table 3). The first eight items of Table 3 all contain an element of provocation, by adults or peers. The correlations with testosterone were quite high for several of these items, considering the fact that the reliability of individual items is generally rather low. Conversely, the correlations for the last two items, which do not imply provocation, were negligible. In addition, the only peer rating scale containing an element of provocation, Verbal Protest, showed the highest correlation (r = 0.24) with testosterone. The wording of this rating dimension was as follows: "When a teacher criticizes him, he tends to answer back and protest." Testosterone has very little correlation with body build "Several of the findings in this study are relevant to the hypothesis of a relationship between high testosterone level and strong body build and aggressive behavior (3). First, it was noted that the linear correlations between testosterone levels and chest circumference, wrist circumference, weight, body surface, and body build were all low and nonsignificant (although all were positive). Furthermore, the assumption that individuals with a relatively mesomorphic or athletic body build might have higher testosterone levels was examined by means of a test for curvilinear relationship. The results, however, were negative. Finally, although the gymnastic grades were positively (but nonsignificantly) related to testosterone levels, physical strength as measured by highly reliable peer ratings (maximum number of pull-ups) showed no relationship to testosterone. These results, then, obtained with different methods give no or only weak support to the hypothesis of a relationship between strong, muscular body build and testosterone level. " Testosterone most strongly correlated to reactive aggression "...it appears that dimensions reflecting intensity and/or frequency of aggressive responses to provocation and threat were most clearly related to testosterone. Other dimensions measuring aggressive attitude or impulses and unprovoked physical or verbal aggression showed only weak positive correlations with testosterone." Correlation Between Testosterone Levels and Individual Items from the Verbal and Physical Aggression Scales (W = 58) Item Correlation Coefficient ® Verbal Aggression (5 items) 1. When an adult is unfair to me, I get angry and protest 0.18 2. When an adult tries to take my place in a line, I firmly tell him it is my place 0.24 3. When a teacher criticizes me, I tend to answer back and protest 0.33 4. When a teacher has promised that we will have some fun but then changes his (her) mind, I protest 0.-19 5. When an adult tries to boss me around, I resist strongly 0.33 6. When a boy starts fighting with me, I fight back 0.33 7. When a boy is nasty with me, I try to get even with him 0.37 8. When a boy teases me, I try to give him a good beating 0.15 9. I fight with other boys at school 0.05 10. I really admire the fighters among the boys 0.11 These items do not contain a clear element of provocative challenge. " Men with high testosterone have high reactive aggression and low levels of frustration tolerance (impatience) The most important positive finding of the study was the clear association between testosterone levels and self-reports of physical and verbal aggression, mainly reflecting responsiveness to provocation or threat. Several other aggressive dimensions did not correlate or correlated only weakly with testosterone. This pattern of findings further substantiates the claim (8) that it is important to closely delineate different aspects of aggression in future studies; omnibus measures are not likely to produce clear and consistent results. In addition, there was a positive relationship between testosterone and relative lack of frustration tolerance (impatience), although the correlation was somewhat smaller than for the aggression scale. We conclude that the two dimensions found to be particularly salient in the present study, i.e., responsiveness to provocation and frustration tolerance, should be included in further studies of testosteronebehavioral relationships. On the basis of animal studies (8 — 10, 51) and general knowledge of behavioral changes associated with pubertal development in the human male, a positive relationship between these two dimensions and testosterone appears very likely. Testosterone might only effect behavior in regards to social status "Levels of testosterone are stable overtime (Sellers,Josephs, & Mehl, 2007), demonstrate convergent and discriminant validity (Sellers et al., 2007) and have high predictive validity in specific situations—namely, those in which one’s status or dominance is uncertain. In multiple studies, we have demonstrated that high testosterone men and women are motivated to maintain high status, and bothered when they lose it. When placed in a lower status position, high testosterone individuals become aroused, distracted, and determined to regain status. (Josephs, Sellers, Newman, & Mehta, 2006; Newman, Sellers, & Josephs, 2005). Importantly, no testosterone differences emerged in control conditions in which status was neither won nor lost. In fact,several authors have suggested that testosterone only relates to behavior when status is threatened (Sapolsky, 1991; Wingfield et al., 1987). "