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Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Combining Behavioral Endocrinology and Experimental Economics: Testosterone and Social Decision Making
Published on: March 2, 2011
Implicit power motivation moderates men's testosterone responses to imagined and real dominance success
O C Schultheiss1, K L Campbell, D C McClelland
1Department of Psychology, Harvard University, William James Hall 1518, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA. oschultheiss@yahoo.com
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.
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