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Polo P, Fajardo G, Muñoz-Reyes JA, Valenzuela NT, Belinchón M, Figueroa O, Fernández-Martínez A, Deglín M, Pita M. The role of exogenous testosterone and social environment on the expression of sociosexuality and status-seeking behaviors in young Chilean men. Horm Behav 2024; 161:105522. [PMID: 38447330 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2023] [Revised: 01/14/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Testosterone plays an important role as a social hormone. Current evidence suggests that testosterone is positively related to sociosexuality increasing the psychological attitudes toward investing in short-term versus long-term mating and promotes status-seeking behaviors both by dominance and prestige. In addition, the social environment may play an important role in the expression of mating effort through changes in sociosexuality and status-seeking behaviors. However, the causal relationships among the mentioned variables are still debated. We employed a double-blind, placebo-controlled within-individual design, in order to test and integrate the proposed causal relationships between testosterone and social environment over short-term and long-term mating orientation and dominant and prestigious status-seeking behaviors in a sample of 95 young Chilean men. We did not find evidence that the administration of exogenous testosterone increased short-term or decreased long-term mating orientation as expected. Moreover, exogenous testosterone did not affect either aggressive or cooperative behavior failing to support the social status hypothesis. We also did not find any relationship between short or long-term mating orientation with status-seeking behaviors. Finally, we found support for the effect of social environment on sociosexual attitudes but not over status-seeking behaviors. Thus, men reported higher levels of short-term mating orientation in the presence of a woman compared to a man and no differences were found for long-term mating orientation. We argue that sociosexuality may be expressed flexibly, but contextual factors such as the presence of women seem more important than changes in testosterone levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Polo
- Laboratorio de Comportamiento Animal y Humano, Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social, Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile.
| | - Gabriela Fajardo
- Laboratorio de Comportamiento Animal y Humano, Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social, Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile; Facultad de Administración y Economía, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Jose Antonio Muñoz-Reyes
- Laboratorio de Comportamiento Animal y Humano, Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social, Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
| | - Nohelia T Valenzuela
- Laboratorio de Comportamiento Animal y Humano, Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social, Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
| | - Montserrat Belinchón
- Laboratorio de Comportamiento Animal y Humano, Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social, Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
| | - Oriana Figueroa
- Laboratorio de Comportamiento Animal y Humano, Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social, Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
| | | | - Marcel Deglín
- Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile; Hospital Carlos van Buren, Valparaíso, Chile; Clínica Ciudad del Mar, Viña del Mar, Chile
| | - Miguel Pita
- Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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2
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Li Y, Liu Z, Wang Y, Derrington E, Moisan F, Dreher JC. Spillover effects of competition outcome on future risky cooperation. Sci Rep 2023; 13:5535. [PMID: 37015992 PMCID: PMC10073108 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-32523-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 04/06/2023] Open
Abstract
There is growing evidence that risky cooperation is regulated by the experience of previous interactions with others. However, it is unclear how the evaluation of outcomes from competitive interactions can affect individuals' subsequent cooperative behavior. To address this issue, we examined how participants cooperated with a partner having just competed with them. While competing, participants (N = 164) were randomly assigned to receive one of four types of outcome feedback regarding their performance (victory vs. defeat vs. uncertain vs. no competition (control)). We found that both the experience of defeats and of uncertainty as competitive outcomes exerted a negative impact on the extent to which participants then engaged in cooperative behavior with their recent opponents. This only occurred when such subsequent cooperative behavior involved a high potential for incurring personal costs but not when there was no risk of incurring personal costs and a positive return. Finally, mediation analysis revealed that the effect of defeat was mediated by participants' level of interpersonal trust and the extent to which participants were willing to cooperate, while the effect of the uncertain competitive outcome was mediated only by the extent to which participants were willing to cooperate. These findings offer novel insights into how risky cooperation is modulated by previous competition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yansong Li
- Reward, Competition, and Social Neuroscience Lab, Department of Psychology, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, Xianlin Avenue 163, Nanjing, 210023, China.
- Department of Radiology, The Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
- Institute for Brain Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
| | | | - Yuqian Wang
- Reward, Competition, and Social Neuroscience Lab, Department of Psychology, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, Xianlin Avenue 163, Nanjing, 210023, China
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3
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Brustkern J, Heinrichs M, Walker M, Schiller B. Facial threat affects trust more strongly than facial attractiveness in women than it does in men. Sci Rep 2021; 11:22475. [PMID: 34795328 PMCID: PMC8602253 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-01775-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Trust is essential in initiating social relationships. Due to the differential evolution of sex hormones as well as the fitness burdens of producing offspring, evaluations of a potential mating partner's trustworthiness likely differ across sexes. Here, we explore unknown sex-specific effects of facial attractiveness and threat on trusting other-sex individuals. Ninety-three participants (singles; 46 women) attracted by the other sex performed an incentivized trust game. They had to decide whether to trust individuals of the other sex represented by a priori-created face stimuli gradually varying in the intensities of both attractiveness and threat. Male and female participants trusted attractive and unthreatening-looking individuals more often. However, whereas male participants' trust behavior was affected equally by attractiveness and threat, female participants' trust behavior was more strongly affected by threat than by attractiveness. This indicates that a partner's high facial attractiveness might compensate for high facial threat in male but not female participants. Our findings suggest that men and women prioritize attractiveness and threat differentially, with women paying relatively more attention to threat cues inversely signaling parental investment than to attractiveness cues signaling reproductive fitness. This difference might be attributable to an evolutionary, biologically sex-specific decision regarding parental investment and reproduction behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna Brustkern
- Laboratory for Biological and Personality Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg, Stefan-Meier-Str. 8, 79104, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Markus Heinrichs
- Laboratory for Biological and Personality Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg, Stefan-Meier-Str. 8, 79104, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Mirella Walker
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Basel, Missionsstrasse 60/62, 4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Bastian Schiller
- Laboratory for Biological and Personality Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg, Stefan-Meier-Str. 8, 79104, Freiburg, Germany.
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4
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Schaik CP, Bshary R, Wagner G, Cunha F. Male anti‐predation services in primates as costly signalling? A comparative analysis and review. Ethology 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Carel P. Schaik
- Department of Anthropology University of Zurich Zurich Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution University of Zurich Zurich Switzerland
| | - Redouan Bshary
- Department of Biology University of Neuchâtel Neuchâtel Switzerland
| | - Gretchen Wagner
- Behavioural Ecology Group Wageningen University & Research Wageningen The Netherlands
| | - Filipe Cunha
- Behavioural Ecology Group Wageningen University & Research Wageningen The Netherlands
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5
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Giving Guys Get the Girls: Men Appear More Desirable to the Opposite Sex When Displaying Costly Donations to the Homeless. SOCIAL SCIENCES 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/socsci9080141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the evolutionary adaptive benefits of altruism may be that it acts as an honest (reliable) signal of men’s mate quality. In this study, 285 female participants were shown one of three video scenarios in which a male target took £30 out of a cash machine (ATM) and gave either a lot (£30), a little (£1), or nothing to a homeless man. The participants rated the male target on his attractiveness, their short- and long-term mate preferences towards him, and the degree to which they thought he was likely to possess various parenting qualities. The results showed that, regardless of whether the man was described as rich or poor, participants rated him as being more attractive when he donated money, but only when the donation was costly (£30). In addition, altruism was shown to be important in long-term, but not short-term mate choice, and displays of altruism were associated with positive parenting qualities. It is argued that displays of altruism act as a reliable (honest) mate signal for a potential long-term parental partner.
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Bhogal MS, Farrelly D, Galbraith N, Manktelow K, Bradley H. The role of altruistic costs in human mate choice. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2020.109939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Cauchoix M, Chaine AS, Barragan-Jason G. Cognition in Context: Plasticity in Cognitive Performance in Response to Ongoing Environmental Variables. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
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8
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Gender-based pairings influence cooperative expectations and behaviours. Sci Rep 2020; 10:1041. [PMID: 31974477 PMCID: PMC6978365 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-57749-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2019] [Accepted: 12/31/2019] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The study explores the expectations and cooperative behaviours of men and women in a lab-in-the-field experiment by means of citizen science practices in the public space. It specifically examines the influence of gender-based pairings on the decisions to cooperate or defect in a framed and discrete Prisoner's Dilemma game after visual contact. Overall, we found that when gender is considered behavioural differences emerge in expectations of cooperation, cooperative behaviours, and their decision time depending on whom the partner is. Men pairs are the ones with the lowest expectations and cooperation rates. After visual contact women infer men's behaviour with the highest accuracy. Also, women take significantly more time to defect than to cooperate, compared to men. Finally, when the interacting partners have the opposite gender they expect significantly more cooperation and they achieve the best collective outcome. Together, the findings suggest that non verbal signals may influence men and women differently, offering novel interpretations to the context-dependence of gender differences in social decision tasks.
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9
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Muñoz-Reyes JA, Polo P, Valenzuela N, Pavez P, Ramírez-Herrera O, Figueroa O, Rodriguez-Sickert C, Díaz D, Pita M. The Male Warrior Hypothesis: Testosterone-related Cooperation and Aggression in the Context of Intergroup Conflict. Sci Rep 2020; 10:375. [PMID: 31942026 PMCID: PMC6962424 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-57259-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2019] [Accepted: 12/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The Male Warrior Hypothesis (MWH) establishes that men's psychology has been shaped by inter-group competition to acquire and protect reproductive resources. In this context, sex-specific selective pressures would have favored cooperation with the members of one's group in combination with hostility towards outsiders. We investigate the role of developmental testosterone, as measured indirectly through static markers of prenatal testosterone (2D:4D digit ratio) and pubertal testosterone (body musculature and facial masculinity), on both cooperation and aggressive behavior in the context of intergroup conflict among men. Supporting the MWH, our results show that the intergroup conflict scenario promotes cooperation within group members and aggression toward outgroup members. Regarding the hormonal underpinnings of this phenomenon, we find that body musculature is positively associated with aggression and cooperation, but only for cooperation when context (inter-group competition) is taken into account. Finally, we did not find evidence that the formidability of the group affected individual rates of aggression or cooperation, controlling for individual characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- J A Muñoz-Reyes
- Laboratorio de Comportamiento Animal y Humano, Centro de Estudios Avanzados, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile.
| | - P Polo
- Laboratorio de Comportamiento Animal y Humano, Centro de Estudios Avanzados, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile
| | - N Valenzuela
- Laboratorio de Comportamiento Animal y Humano, Centro de Estudios Avanzados, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile.,Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Viña del Mar, Chile
| | - P Pavez
- Laboratorio de Comportamiento Animal y Humano, Centro de Estudios Avanzados, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile
| | - O Ramírez-Herrera
- Laboratorio de Comportamiento Animal y Humano, Centro de Estudios Avanzados, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile
| | - O Figueroa
- Laboratorio de Comportamiento Animal y Humano, Centro de Estudios Avanzados, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile.,Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social, Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
| | - C Rodriguez-Sickert
- Centro de Investigación en Complejidad Social, Facultad de Gobierno, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
| | - D Díaz
- Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - M Pita
- Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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10
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Tognetti A, Durand V, Barkat-Defradas M, Hopfensitz A. Does he sound cooperative? Acoustic correlates of cooperativeness. Br J Psychol 2019; 111:823-839. [PMID: 31820449 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2019] [Revised: 10/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The sound of the voice has several acoustic features that influence the perception of how cooperative the speaker is. It remains unknown, however, whether these acoustic features are associated with actual cooperative behaviour. This issue is crucial to disentangle whether inferences of traits from voices are based on stereotypes, or facilitate the detection of cooperative partners. The latter is likely due to the pleiotropic effect that testosterone has on both cooperative behaviours and acoustic features. In the present study, we quantified the cooperativeness of native French-speaking men in a one-shot public good game. We also measured mean fundamental frequency, pitch variations, roughness, and breathiness from spontaneous speech recordings of the same men and collected saliva samples to measure their testosterone levels. Our results showed that men with lower-pitched voices and greater pitch variations were more cooperative. However, testosterone did not influence cooperative behaviours or acoustic features. Our finding provides the first evidence of the acoustic correlates of cooperative behaviour. When considered in combination with the literature on the detection of cooperativeness from faces, the results imply that assessment of cooperative behaviour would be improved by simultaneous consideration of visual and auditory cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arnaud Tognetti
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, France
| | | | | | - Astrid Hopfensitz
- Toulouse School of Economics, Université Toulouse 1 Capitole, France
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Ferguson E, Quigley E, Powell G, Stewart L, Harrison F, Tallentire H. To help or punish in the face of unfairness: men and women prefer mutually-beneficial strategies over punishment in a sexual selection context. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2019; 6:181441. [PMID: 31598271 PMCID: PMC6774947 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.181441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2018] [Accepted: 08/08/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Consistent with a sexual selection account of cooperation, based on female choice, men, in romantic contexts, in general display mutually-beneficial behaviour and women choose men who do so. This evidence is based on a two-choice-architecture (cooperate or not). Here we extend this to include punishment options using a four-choice-architecture ('punishing a transgressor', 'compensating a victim', 'both punishing and compensating' or 'doing nothing'). Both compensation (a self-serving mutually-beneficial behaviour) and self-serving punishment, are associated with positive mate qualities. We test which is preferred by males and chosen by female undergraduates. We further explore effects of trait empathy and political ideology on these preferences. In a series of three studies using a third-party punishment and compensation (3PPC) game we show (Study One), that romantically-primed undergraduate males, express a preference to either 'compensate' or 'both compensate and punish', and undergraduate women find males who 'compensate' or 'compensate and punish' the most attractive (Studies Two and Three). Compensating men are perceived as compassionate, fair and strong by undergraduate women (Study Three). High trait empathy (Studies One and Three) and a left-wing political ideology (Study Three) are associated with a preference for compensation. Thus, self-serving mutually-beneficial behaviour can be preferred over self-serving punishment as a signal of mate quality in undergraduates. Implications for the evolution of cooperation are discussed with respect to sexual selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eamonn Ferguson
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
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12
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13
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Farrelly D, King L. Mutual mate choice drives the desirability of altruism in relationships. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-019-00194-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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14
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Testing the Sexual and Social Benefits of Cooperation in Animals. Trends Ecol Evol 2018; 34:112-120. [PMID: 30527795 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2018.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2018] [Revised: 11/13/2018] [Accepted: 11/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Theoretical models show that sexual and social selection can stabilise cooperation. However, field tests of these mechanisms have been difficult to conduct and the results are mixed. We discuss the conceptual and practical difficulties associated with testing the role of social and sexual selection on cooperation and argue that there are alternative ways of examining these hypotheses. Specifically, approaches based on the classic theories of sexual selection and signalling, and recent developments in the field of behavioural syndromes, provide mechanisms to insure the reliability of cooperation. In addition, methodological developments (social networks and microtracking) and long-term datasets, allow measuring partner choice in a cooperation context and the resulting fitness benefits for both the cooperators and the individuals that associate with them.
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Tognetti A, Ganem G, Raymond M, Faurie C. Female mound-building mice prefer males that invest more in building behavior, even when this behavior is not observed. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-018-2569-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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16
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Different impacts of resources on opposite sex ratings of physical attractiveness by males and females. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2017.12.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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17
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Ehlebracht D, Stavrova O, Fetchenhauer D, Farrelly D. The synergistic effect of prosociality and physical attractiveness on mate desirability. Br J Psychol 2017; 109:517-537. [DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2017] [Revised: 11/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Ehlebracht
- Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology; University of Cologne; Germany
| | - Olga Stavrova
- Department of Social Psychology; Tilburg University; the Netherlands
| | - Detlef Fetchenhauer
- Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology; University of Cologne; Germany
| | - Daniel Farrelly
- Institute of Health and Society; University of Worcester; UK
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