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Situations involving dominance contests, competition, and social validation can lead to transient spikes in testosterone levels. Recent studies have illuminated how social norms, competition, hierarchy, and interpersonal relationships impact testosterone levels. So testosterone levels increase as we’re about to take on a challenge that may affect our status in a big way, surge even more whenever we come out on top, but drop when we lose. Research has shown that when people win competitions that are important to their sense of self, testosterone levels surge; if they lose, their testosterone levels decrease and cortisol levels increase (more on cortisol in a bit).
Our data indicate that winning a competition lead to more dominant behaviour, albeit in a manner that is not statistically regulated by testosterone, possibly through increased feeling of entitlement. Winning a competition increased both explicit and implicit preferences for higher-status vs. lower-status products, using both natural stimuli (prestigious cars) and laboratory-tagged stimuli of matched value (university T-shirts). Conspicuous consumption refers to the phenomenon where individuals purchase goods for signalling social status, rather than for its inherent functional value. The researchers also did not measure participants’ natural testosterone levels before the experiment. Interestingly, while testosterone increased sensitivity to both approval and disapproval, it did not affect the basic learning rate—that is, how quickly people adjusted their beliefs based on prediction errors. After applying the gel, participants waited three hours to allow testosterone levels to rise. Some studies have shown that testosterone increases self-esteem in certain groups, such as men with low baseline levels, while others have found no clear link.
But status is not only woven into our brains; it’s also tied into our bodies. In the last post, we discussed the way in which a desire for status is hardwired into our neurology, and how losing and gaining status affects the brain. Any references tospecific individuals, organizations, or products are for illustrative purposesonly and do not constitute an endorsement or recommendation. The decision to escalate,to build the "bigger tool", is rarely purely rational. It is fueled bypowerful behavioral biases that decision-makers are often blind to. Build somethingbetter to reclaim status. While a temporary increase may occur, the long-term effects are unclear, and the risks of injury outweigh any potential benefits. How accurate are the claims on Reddit regarding the effects of fighting on testosterone?
Yet not only do our T levels fall when we experience status defeat, our cortisol (the stress hormone) rises at the same time. These fluctuations in testosterone only occur whenever the status competition is relevant to a person’s sense of self. Research has shown that right before high-profile chess matches, grandmasters will have a spike in their testosterone levels.
This hormonal advantage may contribute to their confidence, risk-taking tendencies, and ability to navigate complex social landscapes. The presence of a clear hierarchical ranking influences individual well-being, as perceived status impacts self-esteem, motivation, and physiological health. This phenomenon is evident in both primate studies and human social structures. Workplace dynamics, professional achievements, and even informal social challenges contribute to similar hormonal patterns. Competition, whether in sports, business, or social settings, can trigger significant hormonal responses.
Nevertheless, in the absence of support for a hormonal mechanism, how else might these influences of the competition outcome be generated? Certainly, the rejection of unfair offers on the UG is a multiply-determined behaviour, with components including aggression and dominance behaviour, since rejection serves as retaliation against the other player in the face of perceived social provocation (i.e. the unfair offer)19. The purpose of using this task was to demonstrate the effects of social competition by employing an established measure of dominance and aggressive behaviour18,19. Based on the BMS, we predicted that winners would show greater WTP and more positive implicit attitudes for higher-status products compared to losers, and these effects would be mediated by competition-induced testosterone reactivity. Tentative evidence indicates that testosterone plays a key role in conspicuous consumption. But a further influence may take the form of status signalling, a phenomenon termed "conspicuous consumption"1.

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