Coping with competition: neuroendocrine responses and cognitive variables.

Confronting another individual or group motivated by the same goal is a very frequent situation in human communities that occurs in many other species. Competitive interactions emerge as critical situations that shed light on the effects and consequences of social stress on health. But more important than the situation itself is the way it is interpreted by the subject. This "appraisal" involves cognitive processes that contribute to explaining the neuroendocrine response to these interactions, helping to understanding the vulnerability or resistance to their effects. In this review, we defend the need to study human competition within the social stress framework, while maintaining an evolu…

Efecto de un programa de intervención sobre el estrés percibido, autoestima y rendimiento en jóvenes pilotos de motociclismo de elite

En la especialidad deportiva de motociclismo la literatura científica se ha centrado en aspectos tecnológicos, de seguridad, incluso patrones de lesiones, existiendo poca información sobre variables psicológicas de los deportistas. El objetivo de nuestro estudio fue evaluar si el efecto de una intervención en habilidades técnicas y condición física sobre la percepción de estrés, autoestima, la autovaloración, la valoración de otros, y finalmente la ejecución. La muestra estuvo compuesto por 27 pilotos jóvenes de élite, participantes del Red Bull Moto GP Rookies Cup, de los cuales 16 sujetos realizaron un programa de intervención (Grupo Experimental, GE), mientras que el resto fue el Grupo C…

Psychophysiological responses to acute stress in two groups of healthy women differing in fitness

This study examined how the degree of fitness affects several psychophysiological responses to stress in elite sportswomen and physically active women. Trait anxiety and mood were evaluated, and salivary testosterone (Tsal) and cortisol (Csal) concentrations determined before and after a maximal ergometry. Afterwards, subjects carried out the Stroop task, where heart rate (HR) and skin conductance level (SCL) were continuously recorded. At baseline, elite sportswomen had worse mood, and lower cardiovascular basal measures and testosterone:cortisol ratio. In the Stroop task, they showed higher SCL reactivity and worse recovery with respect to the baseline values than physically active women.…

Good decision-making is associated with an adaptive cardiovascular response to social competitive stress.

Competition elicits different psychological and cardiovascular responses depending on a person's skills. Decision-making has been considered a distal factor that influences competition, but there are no studies analyzing this relationship. Our objective was to analyze whether decision-making affects the response to competition. Specifically, we aimed to test whether good performers on a decision-making test, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), showed an adaptive cardiovascular response to competition. In all, 116 participants (44 women) performed the IGT and were classified into Good or Poor decision-makers. Subsequently, they were exposed to a stress task in two different conditions: a face-to-f…

Associations between success and failure in a face-to-face competition and psychobiological parameters in young women

Within an evolutionary framework, in recent years some questions have been raised about whether women have a pattern of psychobiological response to social stress similar to that described in men. The main objective of this study was to analyze women's patterns of neuroendocrine, cardiovascular and mood responses to an individual competitive task, taking into account the outcome obtained. For this purpose, we measured salivary testosterone (T) and cortisol (C) levels, heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP), in addition to mood changes, in 40 healthy young women before, during and after a face-to-face laboratory competition. We also assessed some relevant psychological traits. Our results i…

Different Conceptions of Burnout and Its Relationships with Job Strain and Emotional Intelligence

Burnout is an emotional syndrome that involves a prolonged response to stress. Its study in the work environment is of interest, since it manifests itself through negative attitudes toward work and affects the emotional, attitudinal, and physical level of the person who suffers it. The most relevant instruments for measuring burnout are the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), most commonly used, and the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM). Likewise, taking into account the emotional nature of the Burnout, it is related to Emotional Intelligence (EI), playing a very important role in the adaptive capacity of individuals in stressful situations. The aim of the present study is (1) to analyze t…

Psychobiological Responses to Competition in Women

From an evolutionary perspective, questions have been raised about whether women have a psychobiological pattern similar to that of men. In humans, hormonal effects of competition and its outcome have been investigated under the biosocial status hypothesis, which proposes that, after a competition, winners would show increases in testosterone whereas losers would show reductions, and the challenge hypothesis, which emphasizes the functional role of testosterone increases in the spring to promote agonistic behavior related to territoriality and access to females. Subsequently, the coping competition model has defended the study of competition within a more general stress model, considering t…

Hormonal and emotional responses to competition using a dyadic approach: Basal testosterone predicts emotional state after a defeat.

The present study analyzes the testosterone (T), cortisol (C) and emotional response in competitive interactions between dyads, as well as the relationship between basal T and the emotional response. Seventy-two men and women (36 dyads) participated in same-sex dyads in a face-to-face laboratory competition, and thirty-two men and women (16 dyads) carried out the same task in a non-competitive condition. Salivary samples (5 ml of saliva, plastic vials) were provided at three time points (baseline, task, and post-task), and subsequently T (pg/ml) and C (nmol/L) concentrations were measured using ELISA method. Participants completed self-reported measures of emotional valence, emotional arous…

Sex differences in autonomic response and situational appraisal of a competitive situation in young adults.

Competition is a social stressor capable of eliciting physiological responses modulated by the outcome. The main objective of this study was to analyze the psychophysiological changes associated with competition and its outcome in men and women, taking into account the role of situational appraisal. To this end, 112 young people (46 men and 66 women) participated in a laboratory task in a competitive or non-competitive condition, while Blood Pressure (BP), Heart Rate Variability (HRV), and Skin Conductance (SC) responses were measured. Our results indicate that competition elicits higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) than a non-competitive task; in addition, winners presented a greater R-R …

Decision-Making Skills Moderate the Relationship between Psychological and Physical Pain with Suicidal Behavior in Depressed Patients

International audience

Estudio exploratorio de las características de personalidad y estrategias de afrontamiento en jugadoras de baloncesto femenino

Dentro del contexto deportivo son de interés las diferencias en variables psicológicas y emocionales en función del nivel de competición y los años de práctica deportiva. El objetivo del presente estudio es doble: por una parte comparar la existencia de diferencias en variables competitividad, ansiedad competitiva, personalidad y estrategias de afrontamiento entre dos equipos femeninos de baloncesto, y, por otra, analizar las relaciones entre las variables psicológicas y los años de práctica deportiva. La muestra estuvo conformada por 20 mujeres deportistas, las cuales completaron una batería de cuestionarios. Los resultados mostraron que el equipo que jugaba en un nivel superior, en una co…

Heart rate and blood pressure responses to a competitive role-playing game

The effects of the outcome of competitive encounters on physiological parameters have been studied, especially testosterone levels, but hardly on other systems that, however, present a high sensitivity to stress. This study assessed the effect of a competitive game on heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) in a sample of university students. In addition, the influence of anxiety and attributions of the outcome was also explored. Only winners significantly showed a rise in HR during the competition followed by a decrease along the posttask phase in addition to more internal attributions. On the contrary, the average HR for losers during the competition was lower compared with their baseline…

Hormonal changes after competition predict sex‐differentiated decision‐making

Psychophysiological responses to the Stroop Task after a maximal cycle ergometry in elite sportsmen and physically active subjects.

Physical fitness moderates the psychophysiological responses to stress. This study attempts to determine whether the degree of fitness could affect the response to physical and psychological stress after comparing two groups of men with good physical fitness. Saliva samples from 18 elite sportsmen, and 11 physically active subjects were collected to determine hormonal levels after carrying out a maximal cycle ergometry. Heart rate and skin conductance level were continuously recorded before, during, and after a modified version of the Stroop Color-Word Task. With similar scores in trait anxiety and mood, elite sportsmen had lower basal salivary testosterone, testosterone/cortisol ratio, and…

Stressing the Stress or the Complexity of the Human Factor: Psychobiological Consequences of Distress

Work stress is a complex process that takes place during the interaction between work demands and workers’ abilities. Karasek’s conceptualization of job stress (job demands-control model) predominates over other models of work stress. Job strain appears if there is an imbalance between demands and control. However, this parsimonious model is quite complex, mainly in the control dimension. Control is defined as the ability to cope with job demands; however, control is an ambiguous term that includes personal and job abilities and decision processes. Therefore, stress (or job strain) is a complex process that involves many different human resources to cope with job demands. In this context, i…

Causal attribution and psychobiological response to competition in young men.

Abstract A contribution to a special issue on Hormones and Human Competition. Psychoneuroendocrine effects of competition have been widely accepted as a clear example of the relationship between androgens and aggressive/dominant behavior in humans. However, results about the effects of competitive outcomes are quite heterogeneous, suggesting that personal and contextual factors play a moderating role in this relationship. To further explore these dimensions, we aimed to examine (i) the effect of competition and its outcome on the psychobiological response to a laboratory competition in young men, and (ii) the moderating role of some cognitive dimensions such as causal attributions. To do so…