What is it about?
we investigate testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), androstenedione, and cortisol release among ethnically Chinese boys in Hong Kong (N = 102), aged 8–11 years, during a soccer match (n = 84) and an intrasquad soccer scrimmage (n = 81), with 63 participants competing in both treatments.
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Why is it important?
Findings shed new light on potential proximate mechanisms associated with male-male coalitional physical competition among boys and the ontogeny of HPA axis activity during ecologically salient, socially competitive contexts. Also, these findings further support the view that endocrine responses to male-male coalitional competition likely shift across the life course depending on an individual’s developmental stage. These data revealed novel relationships among pre-competition androgens and competition-induced adrenal hormone changes across two coalitional competitive treatments, which warrant further exploration in order to provide a more nuanced interpretation of the factors underpinning HPA axis reactivity during middle childhood.
Perspectives
Research findings can be situated in broader discussions of human life history theory, ontogeny, middle childhood behavioral endocrinology, and adrenarche, while also highlighting reactive hormone changes in response to coalitional competition as a complement to studies testing relationships between baseline steroid hormones, aggression, growth and development.
Wai-chi Chee
Hong Kong Baptist University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Coalitional Physical Competition, Human Nature, June 2018, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/s12110-018-9321-7.
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