Testosterone and attribution of successful competition

Mood, personal merit, and/or its perception have been suggested to be media ting factors in testosterone responses to competition. Previously we have f ound that personal contribution and attribution were related to testosteron e levels after successful competition. To confirm such associations, two ba sketball teams (n = 17 players) that emerged as winners in two actual match es were studied. Salivary testosterone levels and mood were measured before and after the games. Individual contribution to the outcome was assessed, and personal satisfaction and causal attribution of outcome were reported b y players. Testosterone concentrations increased to near significance in Te am 1 but not in Team 2, who attributed their victory more to luck than did Team 1. This latter team showed notably decreased vigor, and both teams sho wed fatigue at the end of the match. Post-match testosterone levels were on ly significantly, negatively related to external attribution. The results s upport the idea that causal attribution of the outcome is contributing to t he variance of the testosterone responses to real confrontations where the outcome is highly dependent on personal merit. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.