Estrogen Induces Feelings of Power in Women
Researchers at the University of Michigan reported that estrogen could be closely related to testosterone.
In studies of competition, researchers said estrogen levels rose in power-motivated women who won, and dropped when they lost.
"The biology of dominance in women has been vastly under- researched. On top of that, it sets up very nice parallels with men and testosterone," said Steven Stanton of the University of Michigan, who conducted the study.
The study was conceived after British researchers reported earlier this month that male financial traders made more money when their testosterone levels were high.
Stanton, working under the guidance of German researcher Oliver Schultheiss of Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen, wanted to see if estrogen or testosterone was affected when women competed.
Women were placed face-to-face in a computer-based contest. Saliva tests were used to measure their hormone levels.
“Even before the contest started, we have this measure of power motivation or dominance motivation that we use," Stanton said.
"Following each round, they were told whether they won or lost and they could watch each other’s reaction to winning or losing."
Most of the participants were women in their 20s.
Stanton also said Estrogen was linked to personality traits.
"The higher the women were in estrogen, they higher they were in this measure of power motivation," he said.
"To sum up, we have found that estradiol (estrogen), but not testosterone, and a nonconscious need for dominance are positively related in women. This positive relationship is strongest in single women (and) women not taking oral contraceptives," researchers wrote.
"It was almost a flip-flop of the result,” Stanton said. “Those who were not power-motivated, if they won, their estrogen went down. If they lost, their estrogen went up a little bit," he said.
Future tests could include women past menopause who produce less estrogen.
"Estrogen is very behaviorally potent and is actually a close hormonal relative to testosterone. In female mammals, estrogen has been tied to dominance, but there has been scant research examining the behavioral roles of estrogen in women," added Stanton.
The team’s findings were published in the journal Hormones and Behavior.
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