Contest outcome (win / loss) → Testosterone
Higher Contest outcome (win / loss) increases Testosterone.
Winning a meaningful contest raises T relative to losing. That T change then colors the next contest. A loop, not an arrow.
Longitudinal / panel · Moderate
Each side influences the other.
Mechanism
Mazur and Booth's biosocial model: T rises in anticipation of a challenge and diverges after the result — up for winners, down for losers — which then biases willingness to re-enter. Booth et al. (1989) saw it in tennis; later metas shrink but do not erase the field effect.
Caveats
Tiny early N. Laboratory effects are often near zero. Mood about the win, home advantage, and cortisol all moderate the delta. Women are under-studied in the classic papers.
Effect
cohens_d = 0.2. Winner–loser T difference is small; clearer in field than lab (updated metas).
Nodes
Named confounders
Cite this page
What Causes What. “Contest outcome (win / loss) → Testosterone.” https://whatcauseswhat.org/edges/e-win-testosterone (atlas updated 2026-09-02).
Papers
- Testosterone and dominance in men
A. Mazur, A. Booth · 1998 · Behavioral and Brain Sciences
- Testosterone, and winning and losing in human competition
A. Booth, G. Shelley, A. Mazur, G. Tharp, R. Kittok · 1989 · Hormones and Behavior
- Social neuroendocrinology of human aggression: Examining the role of competition-induced testosterone dynamics
J. M. Carré, N. A. Olmstead · 2015 · Neuroscience