Hormonal response to competition among male coalitions

Previous research has shown that testosterone (T) and cortisol (C) are released in response to a wide variety of social stimuli including dyadic (one on one) competitive events, but humans also compete as groups. Here we report results from a pilot study of hormonal responses to competition between male coalitions. Salivary T and C levels were assessed in adult males from a rural Caribbean village who competed at dominoes, as two-man teams, against (a) familiar men from their own village (within coalition), and (b) strangers from another village (between coalitions). Analyses indicate that both T and C levels were higher and responses more pronounced for between-village competition than for within-village competition, but we could not compare responses to victory and defeat in the between-village case, since our subjects happened to win both such contests. Further studies of endocrine responses in the context of coalitional competition are warranted.