title: The mismatch effect: when testosterone and status are at odds.
abstract: Why do some people strive for high status, whereas others actively avoid it? In the present studies, the authors examined the psychological and physiological consequences of a mismatch between baseline testosterone and a person's current level of status. The authors tested this mismatch effect by placing high and low testosterone individuals into high or low status positions using a rigged competition. In Study 1, low testosterone participants reported greater emotional arousal, focused more on their status, and showed worse cognitive functioning in a high status position. High testosterone participants showed this pattern in a low status position. In Study 2, the emotional arousal findings were replicated with heart rate, and the cognitive findings were replicated using a math test. In Study 3, the authors demonstrate that testosterone is a better predictor of behavior than self-report measures of the need for dominance. Discussion focuses on the value of measuring hormones in personality and social psychology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, USA. josephs@mail.psy.utexas.edu
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Josephs
authors.forename: Jennifer Guinn
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Sellers
authors.forename: Matthew L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.forename: Pranjal H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Mehta
mesh_terms: D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001288:Attention; D003071:Cognition; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006608:Hierarchy, Social; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010551:Personality; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012649:Self Concept; D012930:Social Dominance; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood*; D013781:Texas
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone