Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
Testosterone administration increases the size of womens' peripersonal space: An embodied index of social dominance
Peripersonal space (PPS) is the space immediately surrounding the body, encoded by a specific frontoparietal network of multimodal neurons. Stimuli in PPS are represented in a body-part centred manner in terms of possibilities for action, and PPS representations function to facilitate defensive and/...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Department of Psychology
2022
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1867613176902713344 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Masson, Catherine Jane |
| author2 | Solms, Mark |
| author_browse | Masson, Catherine Jane Solms, Mark |
| author_facet | Solms, Mark Masson, Catherine Jane |
| author_sort | Masson, Catherine Jane |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Peripersonal space (PPS) is the space immediately surrounding the body, encoded by a specific frontoparietal network of multimodal neurons. Stimuli in PPS are represented in a body-part centred manner in terms of possibilities for action, and PPS representations function to facilitate defensive and/or approaching responses to stimuli. The size of PPS differs between individuals and contexts, with physical and psychological factors having a determining role on the size of PPS. For these reasons, PPS has been conceptualised as ‘the space of the bodily self'. In this study we investigated whether the dominance enhancing effects of testosterone may reflect in changes of the representation of PPS. We conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled within-subjects testosterone administration study in women (N=19) where participants performed a multisensory-integration task (a commonly used measure of PPS) while facing an unknown confederate. Results indicated that in comparison to placebo, the administration of testosterone caused a significant enlargement of participants' PPS, suggesting that testosterone caused participants to reflexively appropriate a larger space as their own. This effect was particularly pronounced in participants with higher trait anxiety, converging with other research which has shown that the dominance enhancing effects of testosterone administration can be particularly effective in anxious individuals. Results also indicated a multisensory-facilitation effect around the confederate, which was constant across testosterone and placebo conditions – confirming that the effect of testosterone was self-specific. The PPS boundary gradient was unchanged by testosterone. These findings suggest that an enlarged PPS may provide an embodied index of social dominance. Further, because PPS representations function to support approaching and/or defensive responses to the environment, an enlarged PPS due to raised testosterone may support the enhanced approach behaviour and vigilance to threat known to be conferred by testosterone. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/36904 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:31:58.458Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateRange | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| publisher | Department of Psychology |
| publisherStr | Department of Psychology |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/36904 Testosterone administration increases the size of womens' peripersonal space: An embodied index of social dominance Masson, Catherine Jane Solms, Mark van Honk, Jack Clinical Neuropsychology Peripersonal space (PPS) is the space immediately surrounding the body, encoded by a specific frontoparietal network of multimodal neurons. Stimuli in PPS are represented in a body-part centred manner in terms of possibilities for action, and PPS representations function to facilitate defensive and/or approaching responses to stimuli. The size of PPS differs between individuals and contexts, with physical and psychological factors having a determining role on the size of PPS. For these reasons, PPS has been conceptualised as ‘the space of the bodily self'. In this study we investigated whether the dominance enhancing effects of testosterone may reflect in changes of the representation of PPS. We conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled within-subjects testosterone administration study in women (N=19) where participants performed a multisensory-integration task (a commonly used measure of PPS) while facing an unknown confederate. Results indicated that in comparison to placebo, the administration of testosterone caused a significant enlargement of participants' PPS, suggesting that testosterone caused participants to reflexively appropriate a larger space as their own. This effect was particularly pronounced in participants with higher trait anxiety, converging with other research which has shown that the dominance enhancing effects of testosterone administration can be particularly effective in anxious individuals. Results also indicated a multisensory-facilitation effect around the confederate, which was constant across testosterone and placebo conditions – confirming that the effect of testosterone was self-specific. The PPS boundary gradient was unchanged by testosterone. These findings suggest that an enlarged PPS may provide an embodied index of social dominance. Further, because PPS representations function to support approaching and/or defensive responses to the environment, an enlarged PPS due to raised testosterone may support the enhanced approach behaviour and vigilance to threat known to be conferred by testosterone. 2022-11-17T10:06:35Z 2022-11-17T10:06:35Z 2019 2022-10-27T10:15:32Z Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36904 eng application/pdf Department of Psychology Faculty of Humanities |
| spellingShingle | Clinical Neuropsychology Masson, Catherine Jane Testosterone administration increases the size of womens' peripersonal space: An embodied index of social dominance |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Testosterone administration increases the size of womens' peripersonal space: An embodied index of social dominance |
| title_full | Testosterone administration increases the size of womens' peripersonal space: An embodied index of social dominance |
| title_fullStr | Testosterone administration increases the size of womens' peripersonal space: An embodied index of social dominance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Testosterone administration increases the size of womens' peripersonal space: An embodied index of social dominance |
| title_short | Testosterone administration increases the size of womens' peripersonal space: An embodied index of social dominance |
| title_sort | testosterone administration increases the size of womens peripersonal space an embodied index of social dominance |
| topic | Clinical Neuropsychology |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36904 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT massoncatherinejane testosteroneadministrationincreasesthesizeofwomensperipersonalspaceanembodiedindexofsocialdominance |