Social modulation of hormones

Abstract

Though it is an advance in many ways to conceptualize the mind as operating with biological and socioenvironmental spheres, contextualization of the mind's function should not end there. In this chapter, I specifically argue that social context in various forms can fundamentally alter and influence endocrine function, and that these hormonal changes can be best discussed within an evolutionary framework of adaptation and functionality—a research approach known as social neuroendocrinology (van Anders & Watson, 2006b). This approach represents a truly interactionist perspective that requires attention to both social context and biology, and a conscious move away from biological determinism or assumptions of evolutionarily "hardwired" effects. As I discuss more thoroughly in the following sections, we can reasonably expect evolution to "select" for endocrine responses to sexual contexts, since hormones are related to many sexual processes. For example, sperm need to be produced after ejaculation, and hormones are involved in sperm production. To test evolutionary questions of hormones influenced by social and sexual context, one first needs context; that is, we could not logically expect to see evidence for evolved sexual modulation of hormones in the absence of sexual context of some kind. Additionally, many processes we reasonably consider to be influenced by evolution are influenced by past context, as when previous parenting experience modulates present hormonal responses to parenting. As such, social neuroendocrinology, by definition, attends to the joint and mutual influences of social context and hormones. Social neuroendocrinology addresses hormonal function as situated within social context, and the research agenda is to examine social modulation of hormones (which is the focus of this chapter), bidirectional influences, and feedback-feedforward effects. The examination of how social context affects hormones is not a unidirectional endeavor, however, as the implicit and explicit goal is largely oriented to questions of effect (e.g., What are the sequelae of social context modulating hormones?) and function (e.g., Why does social context modulate hormones?) As I argue in this chapter, social neuroendocrinology represents a fundamentally important perspective in understanding the mind in context; the mind does not sit quietly in a corner, waiting for biology to tell it what to do. Social neuroendocrinology helps to reinforce a dynamic contextualization of the mind. In this chapter, I review how social context modulates endocrine function. I focus on social contexts—parenting and sexuality—that are evolutionarily significant and have received empirical attention. Studying how social context modulates hormones necessitates an evolutionary framework, as there is no other way to examine why social context modulates hormones except through an evolutionary lens. By social context, I include the following: 1. Contextual cues that can be transferred from one individual to another (and therefore are socially communicated information); the information in these cues and/or their transmission can be physiological, behavioral, and so forth. 2. Social behaviors of selves or others. 3. Perceptions and anticipation of cues relevant to social context. 4. Information related to social contexts that have been transmitted intergenerationally. As such, social contexts can be immediate (e.g., infants crying) and/or in the past (e.g., past parental experience), brief (e.g., sexual anticipation) and/or longer-lasting (e.g., pregnancy), and modulatory (e.g., stage of pregnancy) or a cue itself (e.g., erotic films).