A key component of evolution is competition. In the ancient world, populations were often capped by limited resources. This meant that ancient humans had to compete successfully in order to be dominant and get valuable resources for survival. This idea is reflected by the famous concept of “survival of the fittest”. This made the way humans responded to competition very critical.
This concept is explored in two different environments in two studies I found. The first is a meta-analysis of many other studies tracked the hormonal effects of combat sport competition. The second tracked the hormonal effects of video game competition on humans. There can be many observations drawn from comparing these two studies. The most interesting of them comes from comparing the production of testosterone as well as the production of cortisol.
One area of comparison is the production of testosterone. In the combat study, there was a small insignificant increase in testosterone levels, compared to the control “pre-combat” testings. Although, the results were not consistent for all age groups; for those who were less than 17 years old, there was a small decrease on average, while older participants experienced a moderate increase in testosterone levels (Slimani, 2018). In the video game study, there was a slight increase in testosterone levels on average among men, going from around 8.5 ng/dl to 9.2 ng/dl. Interestingly, there was an increase in testosterone immediately after the participant found out they would be competing, but the amount of testosterone leveled out after that initial rush. However, among women, there was a significant decrease in testosterone throughout the competition (Mazur, 1997). This shows that in both combat and video game competition men produce testosterone in a very similar manner, slightly increasing their levels. While women do the same in combat sports, in video game competition their testosterone levels go significantly down.
Mazur, Allan, et al. “Sex Difference in Testosterone Response to a Video Game Contest.” Evolution and Human Behavior, vol. 18, no. 5, 1997, pp. 317–326., https://doi.org/10.1016/s1090-5138(97)00013-5.
Slimani, Maamer, et al. “Hormonal Responses to Striking Combat Sports Competition:A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Biology of Sport, vol. 35, no. 2, 2018, pp. 121–136., https://doi.org/10.5114/biolsport.2018.71601.
Evolutionary Anthropology 