Effects of Brief Interactions with Male Experimenters Shortly Before and During the Trier Social Stress Test on Study Participants’ Testosterone Salivary Concentrations

Objectives In the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), participants briefly interact with a research assistant (‘greeter’) prior to the test, and then with two ‘judges’ (a ‘talking judge’ and a ‘timing judge’) during the test. We investigated the effects of the sex of the greeter and sex of the judges on participants’ pre-test and post-test salivary concentrations of testosterone and cortisol. Procedures Study participants were 137 male and 31 female university students, who underwent the TSST in our laboratory. Results The TSST was associated with a significant increase in cortisol across male and female participants, and also with an increase in testosterone among male, but not female, participants. Male participants who interacted with a male greeter prior to the TSST had significantly higher pre-test testosterone levels than males who interacted with a female greeter. Moreover, both male and female participants who had a male ‘talking’ judge and a female ‘timing’ judge had significantly greater testosterone increases after the TSST compared to participants who had a female talking judge and a male timing judge, or two female judges. No effects of sex of the greeter or sex of either judge on cortisol levels were found. Conclusions The most likely explanation for the effects of male greeters and male talking judges on participants’ testosterone levels is that interacting with these individuals stimulated competitiveness in the participants. This finding contributes to the growing literature documenting adaptive hormonal changes in response to brief social interactions with individuals of the same or the opposite sex and also has methodological implications for studies using the TSST.