Objective

In humans and other species, winning or losing a competition elicits changes in testosterone that may influence engagement or performance in subsequent competitive events. Furthermore, anticipating or observing competition can change mood and testosterone, suggesting that cognitions surrounding competitive events may at least partially drive specific physiological and emotional responses. In the present study, we investigated the effect of imagined competition on mood and testosterone in women.

Methods

Participants (62 women) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (high-investment win, high-investment loss, low-investment win, low-investment loss) and were asked to imagine and write about experiencing both the competition and its outcome. Salivary testosterone levels and self-reported mood were assessed before and after the competitive cognition task.

Results

Although imagining a competitive scenario was not salient enough to elicit significant changes in testosterone, imagining a high-investment competition and imagining a win each significantly increased feelings of self-assurance. Participants were more likely to write about their motivation to compete again when imagining a loss than when imagining a win, but testosterone did not predict including content about competing again.

Conclusions

Visualizing oneself winning a contest of personal importance increased feelings of self-assurance in the absence of a testosterone response in women. Future research is needed to determine how the combination of positive mental imagery and physical competition could influence mood and testosterone, and whether self-assurance induced by mental imagery can increase the chance of future victories.

中文翻译：

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心理赢家效应？竞争性心理意象影响自我保证，但不影响女性的睾丸激素

客观的

在人类和其他物种中，一场比赛的胜利或失败会引起睾丸激素的变化，这可能会影响随后的竞争活动中的参与度或表现。此外，预期或观察竞争会改变情绪和睾丸激素，表明围绕竞争事件的认知可能至少部分驱动特定的生理和情绪反应。在本研究中，我们调查了想象中的竞争对女性情绪和睾丸激素的影响。

方法

参与者（62名女性）被随机分配到四个条件之一（高投资赢，高投资亏损，低投资赢，低投资亏损），并被要求想象和写下经历比赛及其结果的经历。在竞争性认知任务之前和之后评估唾液睾丸激素水平和自我报告的情绪。

结果

尽管想象一个竞争性的场景不足以引起睾丸激素的显着变化，但是想象一个高投入的竞争并想象一个胜利，每一种都会显着增加自我保证的感觉。与想象获胜相比，参与者更有可能写下想像失败时会再次参加比赛的动机，但睾丸激素并没有预测会包含有关再次参加比赛的内容。

结论

在没有睾丸激素反应的女性中，将自己想象成赢得个人重要性竞赛的人，会增强自我保证的感觉。需要进行进一步的研究，以确定积极的心理意象和身体竞争的结合如何影响情绪和睾丸激素，以及由心理意象引起的自我保证是否可以增加未来获胜的机会。