Prestige in a large-scale social group predicts longitudinal changes in testosterone.

ABSTRACT

In many social species, organisms adaptively fine-tune their competitive behavior in response to previous experiences of social status Individuals who have prevailed in the past preferentially compete in the future, whereas those who have suffered defeat tend to defer and submit. A growing body of evidence suggests that testosterone functions as a "competition hormone" that coordinates this behavioral plasticity through its characteristic rise and fall following victory and defeat. Although well demonstrated in competitions underpinned by dominance (fear-based status derived from force and intimidation), this pattern has not been examined in status contests that depend solely on prestige-respect-based status derived from success, skills, and knowledge in locally valued domains, devoid of fear or antagonism. Thus, the hormonal mechanisms underlying prestige-based status are largely unknown. Here, we examine the effects of previous experiences of prestige-assessed using community-wide nominations of talent and advice provision-on intraindividual changes in testosterone in a large-scale naturalistic community. Results revealed that men who achieve high standing in the group's prestige hierarchy in the initial weeks of group formation show a rise in testosterone over the subsequent 2 months, whereas men with low-prestige show a decline or little change in testosterone-a pattern consistent with the functional significance of context-specific testosterone responses. No significant associations were found in women. These results suggest that the long-term up- and downregulation of testosterone provides a mechanism through which past experiences of prestige calibrate psychological systems in a manner that adaptively guides future efforts in seeking and maintaining prestige. (PsycINFO Database Record