RAPID: Neuroendocrine and Behavioral Responses to Witnessing a Dominance Contest: Insights from the 2012 Presidential Election

地位等级在人类和动物社会中普遍存在，而支配地位的竞争是决定社会群体地位的重要手段。这些竞赛包括身体对抗-打架，体育比赛，甚至战争-以及非身体竞争，如竞争性考试，工作面试和正式演讲。虽然以前的研究已经研究了面对面的优势竞争，但对大规模社会优势竞争（如民主选举）中的生物社会过程知之甚少。鉴于总统选举对几乎所有社会成员的实际和感知地位具有广泛的意义，社会心理学研究者必须研究总统选举，以建立更全面的地位等级理论。结合行为神经内分泌学和社会人格心理学的理论和实证方法，本研究旨在研究2012年美国总统大选前、大选中和大选后选民的神经内分泌和行为动力学。本研究主要围绕三个实证问题展开：（1）什么是解释激素反应变化的心理因素？（睾酮和皮质醇），（2）这些激素反应概况的行为后果是什么（例如，攻击行为和亲社会行为的变化），以及（3）神经内分泌和行为对选举的反应的时间轨迹是什么？为了解决这些问题，拟议的研究将招募登记投票并持有不同政治观点的健康男性和女性。在五个理论上相关的日子（选举前两天，选举日和选举后两天），参与者将提供唾液样本来测量昼夜睾酮和皮质醇，以评估激素对总统选举结果的反应。参与者还将佩戴带有电子激活软件（Electronically Activated Software，简称ETM）的iPod Touch，通过简短的音频剪辑记录自然发生的社交互动和行为。将在整个研究期间收集每日日记和调查。参与者将被要求在选举前后的几周内发布社交媒体信息。最后，将查阅公众投票信息，以确认参与者是否在选举中投票。这一提议在现实世界的支配地位竞争中，为研究牺牲行为的关联开辟了新的天地。虽然以前的工作表明，观察者的类固醇激素水平可以波动时，目睹了一个优势的竞争，很少有人知道（a）观察者激素变化的行为后果和（B）的心理因素，解释这些激素反应的变化。拟议的工作还解决了激素和行为变化的发病和轨迹之前，期间和之后的高风险的社会主导权的竞争。该项目对多个领域的基于个体和群体的统治等级理论具有影响，包括心理学，行为神经内分泌学，神经科学，政治科学，社会学和人类学。此外，这项研究将作为社会神经内分泌学研究的培训基础，为代表性不足的群体的学生。最后，拟议的工作至少对两个公共政策问题产生了影响。具体而言，这些发现有望有助于设计新的干预措施，以（1）遏制个人和群体地位等级中的攻击和暴力，（2）减少压力，改善自认为地位低的个人和群体的健康。数据和分析方法还可以揭示提高热情和积极影响的战略，以提高民主选举中的选民投票率。

Status hierarchies are ubiquitous across human and animal societies, and dominance contests are an important means for determining status in social groups. These contests include physical confrontations - fights, sports matches, and even wars -- as well as non-physical competitions, such as competitive exams, job interviews, and formal presentations. Although previous research has examined face-to-face dominance contests, little is known about the biosocial processes involved in large-scale societal dominance contests such as democratic elections. Given the widespread significance of presidential elections for the actual and perceived status of nearly all society members, it is critical for social psychology researchers to study them to build more comprehensive theories of status hierarchies. Bringing together theories and empirical approaches in behavioral neuroendocrinology and social-personality psychology, the aim of this proposal is to examine voters' neuroendocrine and behavioral dynamics before, during, and after the 2012 US presidential election.The proposed research is focused around three broad empirical questions: (1) what are the psychological factors that explain variation in hormone responses (testosterone and cortisol) among eligible voters, (2) what are the behavioral consequences of these hormone response profiles (e.g., changes in aggressive behavior and prosocial behavior), and (3) what is the temporal trajectory of neuroendocrine and behavioral responses to the election? To address these questions, the proposed study will recruit healthy men and women who are registered to vote and hold views across the political spectrum. On five theoretically-relevant days (two days prior to the election, election day, and two days after the election), participants will provide saliva samples to measure diurnal testosterone and cortisol in order to assess hormone responses to the results of the presidential election. Participants will also wear an iPod Touch with Electronically Activated Software (EAR) to record naturally occurring social interactions and behaviors via short audio clips. Daily diaries and surveys will be collected throughout the study. Participants will be requested to release social media feeds in the weeks surrounding the election. Finally, public voting information will be accessed to confirm whether or not participants voted in the election. This proposal breaks new ground in examining hormone-behavior associations in a real-world dominance contest. While previous work has shown that observer's steroid hormone levels can fluctuate when witnessing a dominance contest, little is known about (a) the behavioral consequences of observers hormone changes and (b) the psychological factors that explain variability in these hormone responses. The proposed work also addresses the onset and trajectories of hormonal and behavioral changes before, during, and after a high-stakes societal dominance contest. This project has implications for theories of individual and group-based dominance hierarchies across multiple fields, including psychology, behavioral neuroendocrinology, neuroscience, political science, sociology, and anthropology. Moreover, this research will serve as a training foundation in social neuroendocrinology research for students from underrepresented groups. Finally, the proposed work has implications for at least two public policy issues. Specifically, the findings are expected to assist in devising new interventions to (1) curb aggression and violence in individual and group-based status hierarchies, and (2) decrease stress and improve health in individuals and groups who perceive themselves as low status. The data and analytical approach may also reveal strategies for increasing enthusiasm and positive affect to improve voter turnout in democratic elections.