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1 – 10 of 541Shirin Amini, Houra Mohseni, Behnaz Abiri and Sima Jafarirad
Depression is one of the most overlooked psychiatric disorders among middle-aged and elderly men. Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) stigmas are a favorite and common spice that is used…
Abstract
Purpose
Depression is one of the most overlooked psychiatric disorders among middle-aged and elderly men. Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) stigmas are a favorite and common spice that is used as an antidepressant, an anti-inflammatory and a sexual stimulant. This systematic review aimed to provide a comprehensive survey of the effects of saffron on depression in middle-aged and elderly men.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors searched Web of Science, PubMed, ProQuest, Cochrane, Science Direct, Scopus and Google Scholar databases to gather any relevant studies published from 1980 to September 2022. This review included studies that examined the relationship between depression and testosterone concentration (four studies) or saffron’s effects on testosterone and depression (six studies).
Findings
Observational research showed an association between testosterone and depression in middle-aged and elderly men. Furthermore, animal studies have found that saffron increased testosterone levels and decreased depression in males. There is evidence that testosterone may contribute to the mood. Besides its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, this study proposed scientific mechanisms that saffron may also play a protective role against depression through its influence on testosterone, in middle-aged and elderly men. The general use of saffron at high doses or for prolonged periods may cause side effects; therefore, it is important to consult a health-care professional before the recommended dosage and duration of saffron supplementation, especially if a person has any underlying health conditions or is taking medications.
Originality/value
This study provides researchers with an additional perspective for conducting clinical trials on the use of saffron to enhance the mood of elderly men with testosterone deficiency.
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Matthias Woeckener, Danielle L. Boisvert, Eric M. Cooke, Nicholas Kavish, Richard H. Lewis, Jessica Wells, Todd A. Armstrong, Eric J. Connolly and James M. Harper
Research reports a positive relationship between parental rejection and antisocial behavior in adolescents and young adults. Studies also report a positive association between…
Abstract
Purpose
Research reports a positive relationship between parental rejection and antisocial behavior in adolescents and young adults. Studies also report a positive association between testosterone and antisocial behavior. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether testosterone moderates the influence of parental rejection on antisocial behavior in a sample of young adults.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study analyzed a sample of undergraduate students (N=322) to examine the interaction between testosterone and parental rejection in the prediction of antisocial behavior. Multivariate ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was used to explore this association.
Findings
Results from OLS regression models revealed that parental rejection and testosterone were independently associated with antisocial behavior and that the effect of parental rejection on antisocial behavior was stronger at higher levels of testosterone.
Originality/value
This current study is the first to examine how testosterone conditions the influence of parental rejection on antisocial behavior in young adults. Findings from the study add to the growing body of literature examining the interplay between biological and environmental factors.
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Corinna Laube and Wouter van den Bos
Teenagers are typically described as impulsive and risk taking. Yet recent research shows that this observation does not hold in all contexts. Rather, adolescents show higher…
Abstract
Teenagers are typically described as impulsive and risk taking. Yet recent research shows that this observation does not hold in all contexts. Rather, adolescents show higher impulsivity and risk taking than children or adults in affective contexts. Motivational and affective processes are therefore of particular interest when trying to understand typical adolescent behavior. Additionally, pubertal hormones are hypothesized to play a special role in adolescents’ motivated decision making. However, evidence for the mechanisms underlying this relationship is sparse. In this chapter, we aim to integrate findings from human and animal studies in order to elucidate the specific impact of pubertal hormones on motivational processes in adolescence. Against this background, we critically discuss and reinterpret recent findings in psychology and neuroscience, speculate about underlying mechanisms, and suggest new approaches for future studies of adolescent behavior.
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The study aims to investigate the relationship between chief executive officers' (CEOs') prenatal testosterone exposure, absorptive capacity and e-commerce adoption by small and…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to investigate the relationship between chief executive officers' (CEOs') prenatal testosterone exposure, absorptive capacity and e-commerce adoption by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a study of 1,519 SMEs led by a male CEO in China, the impact of entrepreneur's digital ratio on e-commerce adoption is empirically analyzed through a multivariate logistic model.
Findings
The results show that the second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D), a reverse measurement of prenatal testosterone exposure, is negatively correlated with the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs. This evidence suggests that CEOs with high prenatal testosterone exposure have a higher probability of adopting e-commerce. In addition, this research indicates a positive correlation between absorptive capacity, which is defined by market innovation, process innovation and marketing innovation, and the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs.
Originality/value
This research can contribute to the discussion by providing new insights into the antecedents of the adoption of e-commerce in SMEs.
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Benjamin G. Serpell, Stephen Larkham and Christian J. Cook
Team effectiveness is often predicated by a group’s ability to communicate. However, the effect of stress response on communication success, particularly nonverbal engagement, and…
Abstract
Purpose
Team effectiveness is often predicated by a group’s ability to communicate. However, the effect of stress response on communication success, particularly nonverbal engagement, and how this might affect team performance, is not clear; a “phenomenon” this study sought to explore.
Design/methodology/approach
This was an observational study in a cohort of professional rugby players. Participants gave presentations to their peers on two separate occasions during a “live-in” camp designed to have psychologically stressful elements. Presentations were video recorded and audience engagement was measured. Testosterone and cortisol were used as biomarkers of stress response, with a high testosterone–cortisol ratio considered positive. A team training session followed the presentations and participants were rated for training quality.
Findings
A small decline in testosterone was observed each day after waking. Conversely, cortisol rose after waking, with the rise being the highest on the first day. A decline in testosterone–cortisol ratio was also seen each day after waking; the decline was greatest on the first day. Presentation duration and audience engagement was greatest for the second presentation; when the testosterone-cortisol ratio decline and the cortisol increase after waking was smaller. Training quality was also better that day. Pooled data revealed a moderate inverse relationship and weak positive relationships for audience engagement with post-meeting cortisol and post-meeting testosterone–cortisol ratio, respectively. Training quality was related to testosterone and testosterone–cortisol ratio, but inversely related to cortisol.
Originality/value
This study suggests that in stressful conditions, as suggested by an awakening hormone response, communication and team performance could become compromised with reduced ability to engage with others.
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The importance of anabolism and regeneration is related to lack or loss of control. This chapter discusses the psychophysiological basis for such relationships. In the threat of…
Abstract
The importance of anabolism and regeneration is related to lack or loss of control. This chapter discusses the psychophysiological basis for such relationships. In the threat of lost control, energy mobilisation is activated and regeneration is inhibited – since regeneration (repairing) has low priority in emergency situations. This pattern can be traced on several psychophysiological levels, from the brain to most of the cells in the body. Such a mechanism explains why the body becomes vulnerable and increasingly sensitive to load when threat of lost control is excessive and long lasting. In several empirical examples, various indicators of anabolism and regeneration have paralleled improvement versus deterioration in psychosocial conditions, in particular lack or loss of control. In these studies, indicators of anabolism and regeneration (such as concentration of sex hormones with anabolic and regenerative functions in blood and saliva) have been followed in subjects going through deteriorating versus improving life conditions. The demand-support model is used as a theoretical basis for the discussion.
While transgender people have had some success in gaining recognition and human rights in the collection of nations known colloquially as ‘the West’, a well-financed reactionary…
Abstract
While transgender people have had some success in gaining recognition and human rights in the collection of nations known colloquially as ‘the West’, a well-financed reactionary movement is attempting to roll back these gains. A constellation of white supremacist, conservative, and heteropatriarchal organizations and movements are in collusion with so-called ‘gender critical feminists’ to resist feminist and gender-inclusive challenges to traditional gender and sexual hierarchies by targeting trans girls and women – more so than trans boys, trans men and non-binary people – for surveillance and exclusion (Sharrow, 2021a, 2021b). In the past several years, bills designed to delegitimize and exclude trans people in various ways have been introduced in many US state legislatures. Within this larger anti-trans campaign, bills designed specifically to block trans girls and women from participating in ‘female’ sport have been signed into law in 11 US states to date and proposed in many others. It is no accident that organized sport is a site for contesting the inclusion of transgender people and that transgender girls and women are the primary targets of these campaigns. Debates about criteria for female eligibility and a succession of pseudo-scientific forms of ‘sex testing’ in elite levels of sport highlight both the ideological nature of the two-sex system and the intense material and cultural investment in maintaining its façade. In this chapter, I mobilize moral panic theory to focus specifically on anti-trans campaigns in the United States aimed at preventing trans girls and women from participating in ‘female’ sport as evidence of a testosterone panic.
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Purpose: In this chapter, I analyze proceedings from 2015 when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) was asked to determine whether Dutee Chand, an Indian sprinter, could…
Abstract
Purpose: In this chapter, I analyze proceedings from 2015 when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) was asked to determine whether Dutee Chand, an Indian sprinter, could compete as a female athlete. Excluded on the basis that her naturally high testosterone levels conferred an unfair athletic advantage, Chand argued that existing policies in international sport were scientifically flawed. The purpose of the analysis is to examine whether the case led to a shift in the gender politics of sport, law, and science.
Methodology/Approach: I present a textual analysis of the arbitral award document, drawing on feminist methodology to identify where and how the adjudicating panel’s assessment of the case was gendered.
Findings: The CAS decision defined the right to compete as primarily a matter for science to decide, in the process obscuring the gendered and tilted playing field upon which scientific knowledge production takes place. Furthermore, the right to unconditional recognition as a woman was reduced to science alone.
Social Implications: My analysis reveals that Chand’s victory is a precarious one, with binary and biologized models of sex and gender prevailing when the institutions of sport, law, and science determine the policy boundaries of “fair play” for female athletes.
Originality/Value of Study: This chapter shows how the institutions of sport, law, and science work together to determine gender. As a consequence, even feminist versions of the biology of sex difference risk reifying the authority of science as the dominant knowledge form within the institutional spaces of sport and law.