Testosterone levels in hockey players watching a victory video
The goal of this study was to investigate if cortisol levels in high performance hockey players varied when they were watching videos of their team in previous games. The authors took a cortisol measure before the beginning of the video as well as 10 minutes later. The participants saw three videos on three different days: one video of the team’s victory, one of their loss and a neutral documentary video. In an interesting way, the testosterone levels of players increased by 42 to 44 {a4a662e1249520a94f8ce7e773ca0acfdaddb5b0f39745467b170a3329777f56} after viewing the victory, as it stayed unchanged in the two other cases. Therefore, the simple act of watching a previous victory increases testosterone levels. Because testosterone levels are associated with aggressive and competitive behaviors, these results could have important implications for high-level athletes.
Title: Watching a previous victory produces an increase in testosterone among elite hockey players
Authors: Justin M. Carré, Susan K. Putnam
Journal: Psychoneuroendocrinology (2010) vol. 35 (3) pp. 475-479