Effects Combat Sport vs. Video Games (Part 2/2)

Another area of comparison is the production of cortisol. In the combat study, there was a moderate increase in cortisol observed overall. However, there was a very significant difference between the level of increase in amateurs versus those who were highly trained. While the cortisol levels of amateurs jumped to be almost three times as high, the levels of increase for highly trained athletes was just over 50%.

Interestingly, when athletes competed in morning events they had a smaller change in cortisol levels when compared to those who competed in evening events (Slimani, 2018). In the video game study, there was a significant decrease in cortisol levels throughout the competition, going from about .85 ng/dl at the beginning to .55 ng/dl at the end. These results were consistent through all the categories of people, men, women, winners, and losers. Although, women did have higher base cortisol levels than men (Mazur, 1997). The results show that combat competition and video game competition have drastically different effects on cortisol levels. While combat competition causes it to increase substantially with some variation, video game competition causes it to decrease significantly almost universally.

When looking at these two studies, it becomes clear that there are many similarities and differences between the way humans deal with competition in video games and in combat sports. They both cause testosterone to increase slightly in men as is the case with women for combat competition. Although, video game competition causes testosterone to decrease in women. They also, have opposite effects on cortisol production with video game competition causing cortisol to decrease, and combat competition causing cortisol to increase.

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.