Effects of personality on status acquisition in group interactions: An integrative analysis of hormonal and social processes

• Applicant: Dr. Tobias Kordsmeyer-Storp
• Subject Area: Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 527917517

People’s status (rank in a social group) is an important determinant of outcomes like their health, life satisfaction, and influence on group decisions. Two research streams sought to identify individual differences in status acquisition: first, research on hormonal mechanisms suggests that people with higher levels of testosterone should be more motivated to attain a higher status and show more status-related behaviours. Secondly, from a social behavioural perspective, people engage in two major strategies striving for status: dominance (using coercive behaviours to induce fear and enforce their will) and prestige (using skills to earn admiration and respect from others). However, these two promising research streams aimed at better understanding which behavioural strategies and hormonal variables lead to the attainment of higher status positions, on average, have not been investigated in combination yet. This is despite theoretical indication and initial empirical evidence that hormonal mechanisms and social behavioural processes are closely intertwined and mutually influence each other, which should be implicated in explaining status acquisition.To tackle this major gap, the proposed project investigates both hormonal mechanisms and social behavioural processes predicting men’s and women’s status acquisition in group interactions. Testosterone levels are studied as a promising potential mediator of status-seeking behaviours, following an overarching goal of integrating separate research streams on biological and social processes of status acquisition. In two group interaction studies, behavioural strategies as well as associated personality traits and interpersonal perceptions are examined alongside testosterone levels in men’s and women’s status acquisition. Study 1 focuses on naturally occurring testosterone increases, which have been shown during competitive (group) situations like sports or mating contexts. Moderating effects of the steroid hormone cortisol are examined, based on evidence of high cortisol levels blocking testosterone’s effects. In study 2, a dermal gel is administered to examine a causal role of increased testosterone levels on status-related behaviours and outcomes. Hence, these two studies provide new insights on acute testosterone fluctuations as a key variable in modulating effects of status-related personality traits and behaviours on status outcomes in group settings. This project furthers the understanding of how hormonal mechanisms and social behavioural processes intertwine to predict men’s and women’s status acquisition.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigators: Professor Dr. Lars Penke; Professor Dr. Knut Schnell