Testosterone → Contest outcome (win / loss)
The other half of the loop: higher T states make another challenge more likely. Evidence is thinner than the win→T half.
Longitudinal / panel · Low
Each side moves the other. A single arrow is the wrong picture.
Mechanism
If T is a status-seeking hormone, people in a high-T state should pick fights they can win. Human evidence for this direction is mixed and context-bound. Do not draw it as thick as the winner effect.
Caveats
Selection: people who enter contests already differ. Identification of this direction needs panel designs or exogenous T, not a single saliva kit.
Effect
qualitative. Basal T weakly predicts contest entry; the sharper arrow is T change after the result.
Nodes
Named confounders
Cite this page
What Causes What. “Testosterone → Contest outcome (win / loss).” https://whatcauseswhat.org/edges/e-t-status-feedback (atlas updated 2026-08-31).
Papers
- Testosterone and dominance in men
A. Mazur, A. Booth · 1998 · Behavioral and Brain Sciences
- Social neuroendocrinology of human aggression: Examining the role of competition-induced testosterone dynamics
J. M. Carré, N. A. Olmstead · 2015 · Neuroscience