Abstract
Sports competitions have been employed to analyze the influence of social confrontations on hormonal levels. However, results have been inconsistent. Several variables such as outcome, physical exertion, mood and causal attribution have been considered as important mediators of this influence. Our aim was to examine their role in the testosterone and cortisol responses to a real confrontation. To this end, twelve judoists who participated in a competition between clubs were studied. Results showed non significant differences depending on outcome in hormones, physical exertion, mood and causal attribution; only satisfaction with the outcome being significant. Interestingly, testosterone response was positively associated with self-appraisal of performance and attribution of outcome to personal effort. Cortisol response showed a very consistent relationship with negative mood. These findings support a clear association of competition-induced hormonal responses with cognitive and emotional aspects rather than with objective (outcome or physical exertion) characteristics of the situation.
