Prior research has highlighted a link between men’s experience of victory and their subsequent increase in testosterone production (a hormone associated with male competitiveness and sexual behavior) and, conversely, between men’s experience of losing and their subsequent decrease in testosterone production. Reasoning that testosterone is necessary for both men’s and women’s sexual response, I decided to study the effects of chance-determined computer-based competitive outcomes on men’s sex-drive. According to life history theory, organisms apportion their energy and resources in an adaptive, context-dependent manner across their lifespan. I reasoned that when ancestral men experienced losses in competitions over mating rights, it would have been adaptive for them to decrease their sex-drive, a physiological response that would have protected them from physical injury resulting from competitions with much-stronger men and, conversely, a victory would have cued our male ancestors to increase their sex-drive, as victors would have been more likely to attract members of the other sex.
My research has uncovered that the predicted effects of competitive outcomes on men's sex-drive only apply to single men. Specifically, when single men experience a victory, they exhibit a significantly greater average sex-drive score (as measured by their responses to photographs of women) than do single men who experience a loss. The sex-drive of single men who do not compete is intermediate between those who experience a victory and those who experience a loss. I believe that because our male ancestors’ reproductive future was often dependent on winning competitive bouts against their male rivals, if a man was unmated, it would have been reproductively advantageous for him to increase his sex-drive following a victory, as he would have been more likely to attract women following an increase in his social status. Conversely, if a man was already in a relationship, an increase in his sex-drive following a victory over a reproductive rival might have caused him to needlessly pursue other women and thereby risk losing his current partner and/or exposing him to injury or even death as a result of other men seeking to usurp his position.
In the future, I hope to qualify my findings by investigating the level at which these effects are mediated. First, I want to determine whether testosterone is responsible for the link between competitive outcomes and men’s sex drive. Second, I am curious as to whether the observed effects of competition can be explained by changes in men’s mate-preferences as opposed to changes in their baseline sex-drive levels. Third, I am curious as to whether there is a reverse effect—i.e., whether cuing sexual ideation leads men to become more competitive. Finally, I am interested in whether men may be adaptively using competitive outcomes to physiologically manipulate other men’s sex-drive. More broadly, I am interested in analyzing social behavior from a variety of interdisciplinary levels—e.g., behavioral, cognitive, hormonal, developmental, and evolutionary. Likewise, I hope to apply my research to developing strategies aimed at reducing rates of male sexual-violence and assault.
My research has uncovered that the predicted effects of competitive outcomes on men's sex-drive only apply to single men. Specifically, when single men experience a victory, they exhibit a significantly greater average sex-drive score (as measured by their responses to photographs of women) than do single men who experience a loss. The sex-drive of single men who do not compete is intermediate between those who experience a victory and those who experience a loss. I believe that because our male ancestors’ reproductive future was often dependent on winning competitive bouts against their male rivals, if a man was unmated, it would have been reproductively advantageous for him to increase his sex-drive following a victory, as he would have been more likely to attract women following an increase in his social status. Conversely, if a man was already in a relationship, an increase in his sex-drive following a victory over a reproductive rival might have caused him to needlessly pursue other women and thereby risk losing his current partner and/or exposing him to injury or even death as a result of other men seeking to usurp his position.
In the future, I hope to qualify my findings by investigating the level at which these effects are mediated. First, I want to determine whether testosterone is responsible for the link between competitive outcomes and men’s sex drive. Second, I am curious as to whether the observed effects of competition can be explained by changes in men’s mate-preferences as opposed to changes in their baseline sex-drive levels. Third, I am curious as to whether there is a reverse effect—i.e., whether cuing sexual ideation leads men to become more competitive. Finally, I am interested in whether men may be adaptively using competitive outcomes to physiologically manipulate other men’s sex-drive. More broadly, I am interested in analyzing social behavior from a variety of interdisciplinary levels—e.g., behavioral, cognitive, hormonal, developmental, and evolutionary. Likewise, I hope to apply my research to developing strategies aimed at reducing rates of male sexual-violence and assault.