Figures & data
Figure 1. Mean (±standard errors of the mean) anticipatory state anxiety is presented for the control day and the presentation day for men, women taking hormonal contraceptives (HC) and free-cycling women (FC) separately. State anxiety was substantially higher on the presentation compared to the control day (***p < 0.001; presentation versus control day) and men reported overall lower state anxiety compared to HC and FC women (**p < 0.01; men versus HC women; men versus FC women).
Figure 2. Cortisol concentrations before (pre) and after (post) the oral presentation are depicted as means ± standard errors of the mean. The bar chart is subdivided into the presentation day and the control day for men, women taking hormonal contraceptives (HC) and free-cycling women (FC) separately. Cortisol concentrations were higher on the presentation compared to the control day indicating that oral presentations constitute a potent acute stressor in the university context in all three groups (***p < 0.001; **p < 0.01). Differences between the three groups only occurred on the presentation day: Men showed overall higher cortisol levels compared to HC women (*p < 0.05).
