title: Implicit power motivation moderates men's testosterone responses to imagined and real dominance success.
abstract: This study tested the hypothesis that implicit power motivation moderates individuals' testosterone responses to the anticipated success in and actual outcome of a dominance contest. Salivary testosterone levels were assessed in 42 male students at the beginning of the study, after they had imagined a success in an ensuing power contest, and immediately after the contest had taken place. Contest outcome (winning or losing against a competitor on a speed-based task) was varied experimentally. Participants' power motive was assessed with a picture-story exercise, in which an assertive, personalized (p Power) component was distinguished from an altruistic, socialized (s Power) component. In contrast to all other participants, individuals high only in p Power (a) had elevated testosterone after imagining a success in a subsequent dominance contest and (b) continued to have high testosterone levels after actually winning, but not after losing, the contest.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Harvard University, William James Hall 1518, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA. oschultheiss@yahoo.com
authors.forename: O C
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Schultheiss
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: McClelland
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000533:Altruism; D003463:Cues; D005639:Frustration; D005717:Games, Experimental; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D012930:Social Dominance; D013739:Testosterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone