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Testosterone: Difference between revisions
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These null findings pertaining to testosterone and actual status attainment (despite testosterone driving competitiveness and social dominance related behaviors) may also imply that the excess possession of certain testosterone-related traits may be ''harmful'' to attain social status in specific social contexts. Together with the general [[feminization]] of post-industrial Western society, this may result in [[evolutionary mismatch|evolutionary mismatches]] wherein high levels of masculinity and testosterone-related traits may be generally associated with lower social status. Still, these traits would have been generally rewarded in the more violent and unstable contexts where they were evolutionarily selected. | These null findings pertaining to testosterone and actual status attainment (despite testosterone driving competitiveness and social dominance related behaviors) may also imply that the excess possession of certain testosterone-related traits may be ''harmful'' to attain social status in specific social contexts. Together with the general [[feminization]] of post-industrial Western society, this may result in [[evolutionary mismatch|evolutionary mismatches]] wherein high levels of masculinity and testosterone-related traits may be generally associated with lower social status. Still, these traits would have been generally rewarded in the more violent and unstable contexts where they were evolutionarily selected. | ||
They also generally do not take into account the effects of short bursts may play in mediating to outcome of dominance contests, though a growing literature on the "challenge hypothesis" of testosterone does. The challenge hypothesis states that testosterone will rise in men in contexts where male intersexual competition is particularly salient, such as male dominance contexts or in the presence of fertile females.<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0018506X08002183</ref> | |||
Testosterone does seem to drive reproductive effort in males, and it is a highly replicable finding that men in committed relationships tend to have lower testosterone levels, possibly to promote greater pair-bonding in males.<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0018506X19300030</ref> Part of this link between lower T and being in a committed relationship may not be casual. Instead, it may stem from the apparent fact that lower testosterone men may be more pro-social, more generous to their female partners and that men with higher testosterone seem to have larger levels of conflict in their relationships, particularly in egalitarian societies that seek to reduce status competition among males.<ref>https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-70958-3</ref> | |||
Testosterone also very likely does not mediate any of these status-seeking behaviors on its own to a substantial degree, as interactions with other hormones such as cortisol,<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030645301500400X</ref> estrogen, prolactin, and various neurotransmitters such as serotonin<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-011-9264-3</ref> appear crucial in driving many of the behaviors linked to "high-T" in the popular imagination. | Testosterone also very likely does not mediate any of these status-seeking behaviors on its own to a substantial degree, as interactions with other hormones such as cortisol,<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030645301500400X</ref> estrogen, prolactin, and various neurotransmitters such as serotonin<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-011-9264-3</ref> appear crucial in driving many of the behaviors linked to "high-T" in the popular imagination. | ||
==Dual hormone hypothesis== | ==Dual hormone hypothesis== | ||
Many people associate testosterone with male sex drive, however, increased testosterone shows no relation to increased male sexual desire (with the concurrent presence of high cortisol levels). However, it is important to note that androgens generally have the effect of inhibiting cortisol release. | Many people associate testosterone with male sex drive, however, increased testosterone shows no relation to increased male sexual desire (with the concurrent presence of high cortisol levels). However, it is important to note that androgens generally have the effect of inhibiting cortisol release. | ||