Are you a wolf or a sheep?

Are all people stressed out by a defeat or does it hurt some more than others? It may depend on whether they are power-hungry wolves or sheep, say U-M psychology researchers.

In a study published in a recent issue of the science journal Hormones and Behavior, Michelle Wirth and co-authors Katy Welsh and Oliver Schultheiss looked at what happens to stress hormone levels when people are defeated in a laboratory contest.

Students competed against one another in pairs on several rounds of a speed-based task. Half of participants received feedback that made them believe they lost the contest decisively, while the other half received feedback implying they won.

Wirth measured levels of cortisol—a hormone that is released in the body in response to stress and has been implicated in depression and memory loss—in participants' saliva before and after the contest.

The U-M researchers also measured participants' non-conscious dominance drive, called the implicit power motive, at the beginning of the study.

Wirth and her colleagues found that cortisol did not go up in all losers. Only participants with a strong implicit power motive were impacted by the defeat, as reflected in increasing stress hormone levels.

Losers without this non-conscious drive did not show a hormonal stress response. In other words, being defeated is stressful only for those who want to be powerful, but not for those who are not interested in power in the first place.

Winning the contest, however, had the opposite effect. As expected, power-motivated individuals responded to a victory with a drop in their stress hormone levels. But individuals low in power motivation had an increase in cortisol after they won, suggesting that they were stressed by coming out on top.

"As our results show, one man's poison is another man's cake," says Schultheiss, associate professor of psychology. "The power-hungry 'wolves' among our participants were hit hardest by a defeat, whereas the 'sheep' couldn't care less about being beaten."

As it turns out, then, not only does being defeated hurt some more than others. Defeating others also might be a source of stress, the researchers conclude.

"The sheep were really uncomfortable with winning," Schultheiss says. "This runs counter to the idea that everybody likes coming out at the top of the heap. That's a really surprising finding for us."

More Stories

• Oregon's Potempa named dean of nursing
• Regents reappoint Coleman
• NIH renews $70 millionISR Health and Retirement Study
• CEW report examinespotential impact of Affirmative Action ballot proposal
• Regents approve next step in UMMA project
• Maynard chosen as new chair of regents
• Cook, Spencer named associate provosts
• Spotlight: Keeping campus clean
• Stadium renovation site launched
• Survey documents extensive changes in Iraqi attitudes
• Media agreements include creation of a Big Ten Channel in 2007
• Earliest hominid: Not a hominid at all?
• Are you a wolf or a sheep?
• Ford School program to explore policy, technology nexus
• Weills endow Ford School deanship
• Ann Street parking structure to open
• Holiday closings, service changes announced
• University programming captures top Emmy awards
• Leptin found to control frogs' appetite, limb development
• More than one-third of disaster victims may suffer from stress disorder
• Diversity directors outline challenges, suggest action
• Poet, former U-M instructor Donald Hall appointed Poet Laureate
• Don't Miss
• Photo: 3-D at the Dude
• Photo: Two men and a dolly
• Photo: Units, individuals keep moving to raise money for local organizations
• Photo: U-M photographers snap up top honors in photo competition
• Photo: Staff @ Work exhibit through July 7