Testosterone-fueled competition

Oct 2, 2009 20:21 GMT  ·  By

A study reported by the New Scientist shows that gamers benefit from testosterone, which improves their performance and enhances their aggression, only when facing off against gamers that they perceive as being strangers, with testosterone levels plummeting when they are gaming against friends. The results are part of a study conducted at the University of Missouri.

Researchers have long sought the connection between victory against strangers and testosterone but found it hard to show the link because physical sports, which were used for research, generate exhaustion that also boosts levels of the hormone. So, researchers turned to videogames, specifically Unreal Tournament 2004. 42 male university students were divided into groups of three and allowed to bond for a while, practicing together over the course of one week.

Researchers used both the Onslaught mode, which is based around team play, and the Death Match mode, which is free for all, to test their subjects while also testing their levels of testosterone. When team-based play was on, the winners generated more of the hormone than when killing their team buddies. Actually, in games free for all and pitted friends one against another, the losers were more testosterone loaded.

The findings actually have a basis in evolutionary theory. David Geary, who led the study, says that “In a serious out-group competition you can kill all your rivals and you're better for it” while “You can't alienate your in-group partners, because you need them.” Basically, the human male has evolved so that he is more aggressive and testosterone fueled when taking on those he sees as threatening, aka strangers, than those whom they perceive as potential allies, aka team mates. In a way, videogaming and competition are assimilated with warfare though increase in testosterone and aggressiveness also happens in people engaged in domino competitions.