Estrogen fuels a woman’s competitiveness streak the same way testosterone does in men, scientists say.
A research revealed estrogen fuels a lust for power, with single women and those not on the Pill particularly vulnerable to the vagaries of the hormone.
Levels of estradiol – a form of estrogen – shot up in power motivated women when they won a computer game and plummeted when they lost.
The finding, by US and German researchers, mirrors the role of the sex hormone testosterone in driving feelings of dominance in men.
Inspired by a recent Cambridge University study that showed male financial traders make more money when their testosterone levels are high. Women’s hormone fluctuate in a similar way.
Power-driven women – 49 in all – were pitted against each other on a quick-fire computer game for 10 rounds.
“Following each round, they were told whether they won or lost and they could watch each other’s reaction to winning or losing,” said Stanton, an expert in the psychology of motivation.
Saliva samples taken during and after the contest showed the levels of estradiol in highly motivated women rocketed when they won and stayed high for at least 24 hours. When they lost, levels plunged.
The fluctuations were particularly noticeable in single women and those not on the Pill, the journal Hormones and Behavior reported.
Those who were not powered motivated, if they won, their estrogen went down. If they lost their estrogen went up a little bit.