Discussion
anxiety
The present study investigated hormonal responses to brief social interactions following social evaluative stressors. We hypothesized that individuals would show increases in testosterone following brief social interactions and that exposure to prior social evaluative threat and relationship status would moderate these increases. However, among all control male and female participants, we did not find significant increases in testosterone after taking part in a brief conversation with a researcher of the opposite sex. Further, the psychosocial stress treatment did not moderate or cause changes in testosterone following the social interaction. Exploratory subgroup analyses did show a difference in testosterone at differing time points for individuals who were in a relationship for control participants. Specifically, individuals in a relationship had significantly lower testosterone concentrations after the social interaction compared to testosterone concentrations prior to the interaction. These results do not replicate those of previous studies showing that in single men, verbal interactions with women (of less than five or ten minutes) can causally induce increases in testosterone [Similar to testosterone, exploratory subgroup analyses showed differences in cortisol between single individuals and individuals in a relationship for control participants. Specifically, singles showed significantly higher cortisol concentrations when compared to individuals who were in a relationship overall, and single individuals had higher concentrations of cortisol after the social interaction when compared to individuals in a relationship. These results are partly consistent with those of previous studies in suggesting that cortisol increases could reflect anxiety or apprehension before or during opportunities for courtship [Further, these results are consistent with an article by Zilioli and Bird [Our interpretation of the results is tentative, and we acknowledge that our study has some methodological limitations. First, previous laboratory studies of human courtship have used highly attractive research assistants as social interaction partners, who engaged in friendlier, more deliberately flirtatious conversations [Overall, this study highlights the importance of individual differences in relationship status and situational variables as factors in moderating hormonal reactivity to a potential courtship interaction. It appears that psychosocial stress, while not affecting testosterone reactivity during a social interaction directly, may play a role in altering how men and women react to a social interaction interpreted as a potential courtship opportunity. While the exact mechanism remains unclear, it is possible that psychosocial stress may suppress the adaptive physiological response (increase in testosterone) in different ways dependent on relationship status for individuals who are engaged in a courtship. Future studies should continue to focus on the potential moderating factors, whether biological, sociological, or psychological in nature, as there is growing evidence that these factors have the potential to influence the relationship between evolutionarily salient social contexts (e.g., interaction with mates) and adaptive neuroendocrine responses.