Hormonal Correlates of Status in Women's College Sororities Open Access

Abstract

In order to explore the hormonal correlates of status within female social groups, thirty-nine women belonging to the senior pledge class of one of two sororities at Emory University used an ecologically valid status hierarchy generation task to rank fellow senior class members on the characteristics of leadership, likeability, and respect. There was no relationship between any of the three hormones assayed (testosterone, estradiol, and cortisol) and peer- or self-rated status. Similarly, there was no effect of the interaction between testosterone and cortisol on status. These results stand in contrast to other studies that found support for the dual hormone hypothesis, in which status attainment is positively correlated with testosterone only among individuals low in cortisol. This discrepancy is potentially due to the task-neutral nature of the sorority and suggests that perhaps the influence of hormones on status attainment is specifically relevant to groups with a task orientation. Additionally, participants completed two questionnaires: the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ), to assess feelings of social connectedness with fellow sorority members, and the Adult Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External (ANSIE) control scale, to measure internal vs. external Locus of Control (LOC). In this population, ANSIE score was found to moderate the relationship between peer-rated status and social connectedness as measured by the GEQ-Self subscale, as well as the relationship between testosterone and the difference between self-perceived and peer-rated status, two findings that should encourage the inclusion of LOC assessments in psychobiological research.  

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………… page 1

Methods…………………………………………………………………………………… page 11

Results…………………………………………………………………………………… page 16

Discussion………………………………………………………………………………… page 25

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………...  page 37

References………………………………………………………………………………… page 38

Appendix A……………………………………………………………………………… page 43

Appendix B……………………………………………………………………………… page 44

Appendix C……………………………………………………………………………… page 45

Appendix D……………………………………………………………………………… page 47

Appendix E………………………………………………………………………………. page 49

Appendix F………………………………………………………………………………. page 51

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology
Degree	B.S.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Social Biology, Endocrinology Psychology, Psychobiology
Keyword	dual hormone hypothesis sorority status hormones
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	David A. Edwards, Emory University
Committee Members	Sarah Gouzoules, Emory University Stephen Nowicki, Emory University

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