Hormones, in vocational psychology dictionary

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Dictionary of Vocational Psychology

Hormones

Donald Super (1957) was among the first vocational psychologists to suggest the importance of hormones on the development of interests and career. Since that time, researchers have developed a much better understanding of the biology of hormones and their effects on behavior. Many of these effects have vocational implications.

Testosterone and Male Response to Loss in Competition. In the December 2006 issue of Hormones and Behavior, Robert Josephs and Pranjal Mehta of the University of Texas at Austin examined levels of testosterone in men who lose in competition. They measured the testosterone levels of 60 men and then paired them in a task of tracing through a pattern of numbers. Following the competition, the men's testosterone levels were measured and they were asked whether they would like to compete again. Following a loss, most of the men who elected to compete again evinced increased testosterone levels, while those losers who elected to not compete again overwhelmingly showed decreased testosterone levels. However, testosterone level changes could not differentiate which winners would compete again.

In Utero Androgens and Individual Differences in Abilities and Interests. In utero exposure to unusual levels of certain hormones may have profound consequences on the developing children, even into adulthood. In one report, girls exposed in utero to abnormally high levels of androgens later developed greatly increased intelligence (25 points higher than the norm) coupled with increased risk for hermaphrodism. Marc Breedlove, a University of California Berkeley psychologist, reported in an article in Nature that elevated androgen levels in utero can increase likelihood of homosexual sexual orientation for both boys and girls. Barry Chung demonstrated in his doctoral dissertation a relationship between adult male vocational interests and homosexual orientation; perhaps similar in utero effects of androgen levels may establish a basis for interest patterns. But all of this is highly speculative at this time.

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