Challenge‐control interaction as reflected in sympathetic‐adrenal and pituitary‐adrenal activity: comparison between the sexes

The relative sensitivity of the sympathetic‐adrenal and pituitary‐adrenal systems to different psychosocial demands is considered on the basis of experimental data. It is concluded that positive and negative aspects of psychological arousal (“effort” and “distress”) are differentially associated with the activity of each of the two systems, effort being related primarily to catecholamine secretion, distress primarily to cortisol secretion. Data are presented to illustrate the role of personal control as a major modulating factor. Controllability tends to reduce the negative aspects and enhance the positive aspects of arousal, thereby changing the balance between sympathetic‐adrenal and pituitary‐adrenal activity. The neuroendocrine pattern is the same for males and females, but there is a consistent sex difference in that females are less prone than males to respond to achievement demands by increased catecholamine secretion. The relative influence of biological and social factors on this sex difference in reactivity is discussed.