The presence of a woman increases testosterone in aggressive dominant men.
In line with the challenge hypothesis, this study investigated the effects of the presence of a woman on the testosterone (T) levels of young men. An informal contact with a woman of approximately 5 min resulted in an increase in salivary T among men. These effects occurred particularly in men with an aggressive dominant personality. In addition, higher salivary T levels were related to a more aggressively dominant personality, being sexual inactive for a month or more, and not being involved in a committed, romantic relationship. The most important findings of this study are that the short presence of a woman induces specific hormonal reactions in men, and that these effects are stronger for aggressively dominant men.
van der Meij
Leander
L
Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands. L.van.der.Meij@rug.nl
Buunk
Abraham P
AP
van de Sande
Johannes P
JP
Salvador
Alicia
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012930:Social Dominance; D012931:Social Environment; D013739:Testosterone / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D055815:Young Adult
D013739:Testosterone