Science demonstrates a Woman's need to be Dominant

Science demonstrates a Woman's need to be Dominant (Full Version)

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MsAngelique78 -> Science demonstrates a Woman's need to be Dominant (9/2/2008 3:02:06 PM)
University of Michigan's Director of the Human Motivation and Affective Neuroscience Lab, O. Shultheiss, was able to show that there is a biologically anchored need for dominance in Women that is mediated by estrogen. There is a marked increase in estrogen levels prior to and up to one day following a display of dominance. Just as testosterone fuels a male's drive for power, estrogen fuels a Female's. :)

BiteGirl -> RE: Science demonstrates a Woman's need to be Dominant (9/3/2008 1:36:23 AM)
Okays. Where did you read this? can you post a link?

thetammyjo -> RE: Science demonstrates a Woman's need to be Dominant (9/3/2008 7:32:13 AM)
I other words: Human beings like to compete for and exercise dominance or control or power or authority.... looks at history Yes, yes, they do.

AnnaOfAramis -> RE: Science demonstrates a Woman's need to be Dominant (9/3/2008 10:54:54 AM)
I googled on it and found this: Which One is the Hormone of Power….Testosterone or Estrogen? June 15th, 2008 New evidence suggests that in men, it’s testosterone and in women, estrogen. A new University of Michigan psychology study suggests that the sex hormone estrogen may be the female analog to the predominantly male hormone testosterone; which has been known as the hormone of power. “Estrogen is very behaviorally potent and is actually a close hormonal relative to testosterone. In female mammals, estrogen has been tied to dominance, but there has been scant research examining the behavioral roles of estrogen in women”, said psychology researcher Steven Stanton. “Our findings perfectly parallel what we have observed for power motivation and testosterone in men,” said Oliver Shultheiss, a psychology professor who directs the Human Motivation & Affective Neuroscience Lab states. “In men, power motivation is associated with heightened levels of testosterone, particularly after a contest victory. In women, estrogen appears to be the critical hormone for power motivation.” Shultheiss concludes. Reference: Steven J. Stanton, a, and Oliver C. Schultheissa; Basal and dynamic relationships between implicit power motivation and estradiol in women http://optfunction.com/blog/?paged=2 I don't know what this means though. What is released during sexual arousal... endorphins? Because, I think if you look at most members of the animal kingdom that the females tend to hold still and submit to males during sex. Perhaps there is higher estrogen during and after pregnancy, and this would account for the aggressive protective mother? I don't know the answers- is there a doctor in the house? anna

thetammyjo -> RE: Science demonstrates a Woman's need to be Dominant (9/4/2008 9:34:48 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: AnnaOfAramis I don't know what this means though. What is released during sexual arousal... endorphins? Because, I think if you look at most members of the animal kingdom that the females tend to hold still and submit to males during sex. Perhaps there is higher estrogen during and after pregnancy, and this would account for the aggressive protective mother? I don't know the answers- is there a doctor in the house? anna Is that submission or biological need for the sperm to get released and into the right place? Who controls who has sex, with whom, where, and when? A lot of that is biology in some animals though we see in others that there appears to be a wider use of sex for barter or control or influence. Why does the sexual act itself need to be submission and dominance?

Wheldrake -> RE: Science demonstrates a Woman's need to be Dominant (9/4/2008 1:47:32 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: thetammyjo Is that submission or biological need for the sperm to get released and into the right place? Who controls who has sex, with whom, where, and when? A lot of that is biology in some animals though we see in others that there appears to be a wider use of sex for barter or control or influence. Why does the sexual act itself need to be submission and dominance? From a species survival point of view, yes, it's about getting the sperm into the right place. From the subjective point of view of the male and female, it's about following their respective instincts. In some animals the female may initiate copulation or at least participate enthusiastically, and in others the male normally has to practically beat the female into submission. As far as propagating the species is concerned, the latter system works just as well, provided the male is usually able to overpower the female without hurting her too badly in the process. Isn't the amorality of nature just wonderful? About the estrogen article... anyone masochistic enough to want to slog through an academic paper can find a PDF here: http://www.psych2.phil.uni-erlangen.de/~oschult/humanlab/publications/sshb2007.pdf I skimmed over most of the statistics, which I suppose doesn't say much for my own masochism credentials, but the more readable parts of the paper actually made some interesting points about the psychology of dominance in general. A few highlights, as I understand them: 1. The researchers measured the women's predilection for dominance by showing them pictures, getting them to write short (very short) stories about the pictures, and counting the number of "power images" that showed up in the stories. This resulted in a score called "n Power", and a woman with high n Power was considered more naturally dominant. Interestingly, n Power scores did correlate with estrogen levels, but they didn't correlate with the women's perceptions of their own personalities - women who considered themselves dominant didn't necessarily have high n Power. If it hasn't been done already, some psychologist really should administer n Power tests to self-identified dominants, submissives and switches in the BDSM scene, and see what happens. 2. However, the correlation between estrogen and n Power didn't hold up for women in "close relationships" - it only applied to single women. 3. After these preliminary tests, the researchers got the women to play a simple computer game. They were told they were competing against each other, even though this wasn't actually the case, and at the end of the game each woman was told that she had either won or lost. For women with high n Power, the winners experienced increases in estrogen and the losers experienced decreases. This didn't happen with low n Power women. 4. Although the study didn't test this, the researchers mentioned that n Power in women is also correlated with sex drive. They also noted that testosterone in men works somewhat, but not entirely, like estrogen in women when it comes to competitive situations. When men of high n Power compete, both the loser and the winner experience elevated testosterone levels. I don't pretend to know what all this means. But it is sort of interesting.

Kirata -> RE: Science demonstrates a Woman's need to be Dominant (9/6/2008 1:39:26 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Wheldrake The researchers measured the women's predilection for dominance by showing them pictures, getting them to write short (very short) stories about the pictures, and counting the number of "power images" that showed up in the stories. This resulted in a score called "n Power", and a woman with high n Power was considered more naturally dominant. Interestingly, n Power scores did correlate with estrogen levels, but they didn't correlate with the women's perceptions of their own personalities This is extraordinarily interesting. The procedure employed closely approximates an administration of the TAT (Thematic Apperception Test) to the subjects. The TAT is a projective test. It is not surprising, therefore, that the "n Power" scores failed to agree with the women's conscious perception of themselves. And accordingly, a more correct interpretation of the results would seem to be that estrogen acts to suppress dominance. Kirata

seababy -> RE: Science demonstrates a Woman's need to be Dominant (9/6/2008 5:52:13 AM)
So I guess as a female submissive that makes me unnatural? ..or maybe butch? color me more confused than usual.

Wheldrake -> RE: Science demonstrates a Woman's need to be Dominant (9/6/2008 1:24:03 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: seababy So I guess as a female submissive that makes me unnatural? ..or maybe butch? color me more confused than usual. The researchers are not saying that estrogen makes all women dominant - they're saying that women with dominant personalities tend to have higher estrogen levels than non-dominant women. So their study suggests that you, as a submissive woman, might have relatively low estrogen levels... but even this would only be true if what they're measuring as "dominance" corresponds to dominance in a BDSM sense. I'm not at all convinced that this is the case. Anyway, you certainly don't have to worry that you're unnatural!

Kirata -> RE: Science demonstrates a Woman's need to be Dominant (9/6/2008 1:58:29 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Wheldrake they're saying that women with dominant personalities tend to have higher estrogen levels than non-dominant women. The findings were that women with higher "n Power" scores had higher estrogen levels. Period. The rest is purely (flawed, in my opinion) interpretation. K.

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