test levels and winning - UK-Muscle Body Building Community

SNOWY · 09-04-2006, 05:00 PM

Androgens and sport

testosterone increases before competition - an anticipatory response
winning appears to increase testosterone level
loosing reduces testosterone level
these effects are also seen in sports fans
effects seen in non-physical games e.g. chess

It is possible that these effects are due to changes in status because:

testosterone increases in students after graduation,
and in hostages after their release from captivity

Consequently these effects may be related to changes in dominance. Jeffcoate et al (1986) found that testosterone level changed in men as a function of their changing dominance-ranking within a group aboard a holiday yacht.

http://salmon.psy.plym.ac.uk/year2/a...man_aggression

Testosterone Levels Rise In Fans Of Winning Teams

Sports fans, take note:
Men who watch their favorite sports team compete - and win - experience the same type of testosterone surges as the players themselves, according to a graduate student at the University of Utah.
Additionally, highly loyal male fans also demonstrate a rise in testosterone just by anticipating a sporting event of their favorite team, compared to fans who are less committed to the team.
Paul Bernhardt, a doctoral candidate in the U.'s Educational Psychology Department, conducted the spectator study when he was a post-baccalaureate student at Georgia State University in 1991. The results were published in a recent issue of Physiology and Behavior.
Bernhardt and his colleagues were interested in testing a theory first presented by Dr. Theodore Kemper, a professor of sociology at St. John's University in New York, who hypothesized that fans watching sporting events would have testosterone changes similar to those experienced by the athletes. Previous research has shown that participants in sports competitions have increases in testosterone in anticipation of the contest and as a result of winning.
"We know spectators have a strong affiliation with athletes," said Bernhardt, who is working toward a Ph.D. degree in psycho-physiology. "For example, they speak about teams in personal terms, like `We won.' Since the testosterone effect occurred in athletes, we figured it would occur in spectators as well."
To prove that theory, Bernhardt's group conducted two separate studies. The first measured testosterone levels of male fans attending a basketball game between rivals Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia in 1991. The second tracked testosterone levels among male fans watching Brazilian and Italian teams play in a World Cup of Soccer tournament in 1994.
In the basketball study, the researchers collected saliva samples from eight male spectators about an hour before the game, and again about 15 minutes after the game. The game was played at a neutral site, ensuring that the crowd would not be dominated by fans from one school. The game turned out to be a close one, with the University of Georgia winning in the final few seconds.
For the soccer competition, the researchers were unable to attend the event, so they instead collected samples from 26 male fans watching the televised broadcast of the final match between Brazil and Italy. Twelve fans were Brazilian or of Brazilian descent, and 14 fans were Italian or of Italian descent. Brazil won with a penalty kick after the game had been played to a tie and an overtime had been played out with no one scoring.
In both studies, testosterone levels increased about 20 percent in fans of winning teams and decreased about 20 percent in fans of losing teams.
Levels of testosterone in males normally peak not long after waking up, then decrease by about 35 percent over the course of the day. During both studies, the effect among winning fans was strong enough to reverse the normal pattern of decline in testosterone levels. "The effect was likely sudden, rather than building up gradually during the game, because the outcome was not determined until the last few seconds of each game," researchers said.
The results are "fairly robust," Bernhardt said. "We're confident we're looking at a valid phenomenon. It's my personal observation that when you have fans in a city with a successful team, they get caught up in that success. The team's success seems to translate into positive feelings that have a physiological component."
In the anticipation study, Bernhardt and Dabbs measured the testosterone levels of 14 fraternity members at Georgia Tech before several basketball games and before several fraternity meetings. They found the testosterone levels were higher before the games than before the meetings. The fact that the fans' psychological connection to a team is also reflected in their physiology is "a little surprising," Bernhardt said. "They didn't shoot the balls, or run the court, but they experienced the same rise in testosterone that the athletes do.

SNOWY · 09-04-2006, 05:02 PM

Married men who spend time with their wives and kids have lower testosterone levels than bachelors. The discovery suggests that having less of the hormone could play a part in encouraging men to devote their energies to the family rather than looking for another partner.
In male birds from monogamous species, testosterone levels fall after they form a pair and start taking care of their young. Artificially raising levels of testosterone is known to cause the males to play the field at the expense of parenting. This suggests that testosterone boosts competition for mates while lower levels encourage fatherly conduct.
So anthropologist Peter Gray and a team from Harvard University decided to see whether the same happens in men. They measured testosterone in the saliva of 58 men who were either single, married or married with children. In all the men hormone levels fell over the course of the day as part of a natural daily cycle that peaks in the morning.
But the decrease was greater in the married men than in bachelors. "And fathers seem to show an even more dramatic difference from unmarried men," says Gray.
Feedback loop

The researchers suggest that lower testosterone makes dads less likely to stray, and encourages them to be true to their wives and spend time with their families. In turn, being around the family may lower testosterone, creating a continuous feedback loop. Gray speculates that social relationships have an effect on testosterone.
Experiences such as winning or losing at sport affect testosterone levels, says anthropologist Benjamin Campbell of Boston University. So parenting could have an effect too.
Gray now hopes to separate out the effects of marriage from parenting by studying testosterone in men who have separated from their wives, but have joint custody of their children.
Journal reference: Evolution and Human Behavior (vol 23, p 193)

09-04-2006, 05:00 PM	#1 (permalink)
SNOWY Polar Bear Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: south wales. Cwmbran Posts: 177	test levels and winning Androgens and sport testosterone increases before competition - an anticipatory response winning appears to increase testosterone level loosing reduces testosterone level these effects are also seen in sports fans effects seen in non-physical games e.g. chess It is possible that these effects are due to changes in status because: testosterone increases in students after graduation, and in hostages after their release from captivity Consequently these effects may be related to changes in dominance. Jeffcoate et al (1986) found that testosterone level changed in men as a function of their changing dominance-ranking within a group aboard a holiday yacht. http://salmon.psy.plym.ac.uk/year2/a...man_aggression Testosterone Levels Rise In Fans Of Winning Teams Sports fans, take note: Men who watch their favorite sports team compete - and win - experience the same type of testosterone surges as the players themselves, according to a graduate student at the University of Utah. Additionally, highly loyal male fans also demonstrate a rise in testosterone just by anticipating a sporting event of their favorite team, compared to fans who are less committed to the team. Paul Bernhardt, a doctoral candidate in the U.'s Educational Psychology Department, conducted the spectator study when he was a post-baccalaureate student at Georgia State University in 1991. The results were published in a recent issue of Physiology and Behavior. Bernhardt and his colleagues were interested in testing a theory first presented by Dr. Theodore Kemper, a professor of sociology at St. John's University in New York, who hypothesized that fans watching sporting events would have testosterone changes similar to those experienced by the athletes. Previous research has shown that participants in sports competitions have increases in testosterone in anticipation of the contest and as a result of winning. "We know spectators have a strong affiliation with athletes," said Bernhardt, who is working toward a Ph.D. degree in psycho-physiology. "For example, they speak about teams in personal terms, like `We won.' Since the testosterone effect occurred in athletes, we figured it would occur in spectators as well." To prove that theory, Bernhardt's group conducted two separate studies. The first measured testosterone levels of male fans attending a basketball game between rivals Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia in 1991. The second tracked testosterone levels among male fans watching Brazilian and Italian teams play in a World Cup of Soccer tournament in 1994. In the basketball study, the researchers collected saliva samples from eight male spectators about an hour before the game, and again about 15 minutes after the game. The game was played at a neutral site, ensuring that the crowd would not be dominated by fans from one school. The game turned out to be a close one, with the University of Georgia winning in the final few seconds. For the soccer competition, the researchers were unable to attend the event, so they instead collected samples from 26 male fans watching the televised broadcast of the final match between Brazil and Italy. Twelve fans were Brazilian or of Brazilian descent, and 14 fans were Italian or of Italian descent. Brazil won with a penalty kick after the game had been played to a tie and an overtime had been played out with no one scoring. In both studies, testosterone levels increased about 20 percent in fans of winning teams and decreased about 20 percent in fans of losing teams. Levels of testosterone in males normally peak not long after waking up, then decrease by about 35 percent over the course of the day. During both studies, the effect among winning fans was strong enough to reverse the normal pattern of decline in testosterone levels. "The effect was likely sudden, rather than building up gradually during the game, because the outcome was not determined until the last few seconds of each game," researchers said. The results are "fairly robust," Bernhardt said. "We're confident we're looking at a valid phenomenon. It's my personal observation that when you have fans in a city with a successful team, they get caught up in that success. The team's success seems to translate into positive feelings that have a physiological component." In the anticipation study, Bernhardt and Dabbs measured the testosterone levels of 14 fraternity members at Georgia Tech before several basketball games and before several fraternity meetings. They found the testosterone levels were higher before the games than before the meetings. The fact that the fans' psychological connection to a team is also reflected in their physiology is "a little surprising," Bernhardt said. "They didn't shoot the balls, or run the court, but they experienced the same rise in testosterone that the athletes do.

09-04-2006, 05:02 PM	#2 (permalink)
SNOWY Polar Bear Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: south wales. Cwmbran Posts: 177	Do you think married men have less testosterone? Married men who spend time with their wives and kids have lower testosterone levels than bachelors. The discovery suggests that having less of the hormone could play a part in encouraging men to devote their energies to the family rather than looking for another partner. In male birds from monogamous species, testosterone levels fall after they form a pair and start taking care of their young. Artificially raising levels of testosterone is known to cause the males to play the field at the expense of parenting. This suggests that testosterone boosts competition for mates while lower levels encourage fatherly conduct. So anthropologist Peter Gray and a team from Harvard University decided to see whether the same happens in men. They measured testosterone in the saliva of 58 men who were either single, married or married with children. In all the men hormone levels fell over the course of the day as part of a natural daily cycle that peaks in the morning. But the decrease was greater in the married men than in bachelors. "And fathers seem to show an even more dramatic difference from unmarried men," says Gray. Feedback loop The researchers suggest that lower testosterone makes dads less likely to stray, and encourages them to be true to their wives and spend time with their families. In turn, being around the family may lower testosterone, creating a continuous feedback loop. Gray speculates that social relationships have an effect on testosterone. Experiences such as winning or losing at sport affect testosterone levels, says anthropologist Benjamin Campbell of Boston University. So parenting could have an effect too. Gray now hopes to separate out the effects of marriage from parenting by studying testosterone in men who have separated from their wives, but have joint custody of their children. Journal reference: Evolution and Human Behavior (vol 23, p 193)