The Social Neuroendocrinology of Status

University Of Oregon Eugene, Eugene OR

Investigators

Abstract

Status hierarchies are a part of our everyday social interactions, and those with higher status have numerous advantages, including access to resources and improved health. A key area of research within social and personality psychology is to understand how status hierarchies are formed and maintained. Who attains higher status positions within their groups (e.g., leadership positions), and how? Because higher status in social hierarchies confers benefits compared to lower status, answers to these questions have fundamental implications for explaining disparities in outcomes such as hiring, pay, and health. Traditional biosocial theories of status propose that elevated testosterone concentrations should lead to higher status by enhancing dominant behaviors (e.g., confidence, assertiveness), but evidence in support of these theories is inconsistent. Recently Pranjal Mehta (University of Oregon) and his colleagues have proposed that testosterone may interact with contextual factors and other hormones to regulate behaviors implicated in the pursuit of social status. Building on this dual-systems approach, the proposed research investigates the extent to which testosterone's influence on social status depends on cortisol, a hormone released during periods of physical and psychological stress. This research will generate novel insights into the fundamental biosocial mechanisms of social status. These studies have numerous implications for designing psychological interventions aimed at improving professional and health outcomes among lower status, marginalized individuals and groups. According to the dual-hormone hypothesis, testosterone should enhance social status only when cortisol is low. The proposed research will test the novel hypothesis that testosterone and cortisol should jointly strategically motivate behaviors that improve one's status depending on the social context, through both dominance and pro-social behaviors (e.g., friendliness, generosity). The proposed research will test this biosocial mechanism of status attainment in a mock job interview setting, group-based social interactions, and real-world status hierarchies. The studies integrate cutting-edge methodologies within social-personality psychology and behavioral neuroendocrinology to address the research aims, including hormone administration, endogenous hormone measurement, experimental manipulations of social context, and behavioral observation. The research examines both baseline hormone concentrations as well as context-driven hormone fluctuations over time in order to understand how endocrine systems dynamically influence and are influenced by status-seeking behaviors and social status.