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Testosterone: Difference between revisions
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→T and social dominance
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T levels may be more strongly related to the attainment of dominance in social milieus based around violent domination as opposed to ones based around social consensus, competence, and likability.<ref>https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19485565.2006.9989114</ref> | T levels may be more strongly related to the attainment of dominance in social milieus based around violent domination as opposed to ones based around social consensus, competence, and likability.<ref>https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19485565.2006.9989114</ref> | ||
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. | ||
Some research has indicated that children that have received higher levels of exposure to prenatal androgens had lower quality social relationships and more restricted interests (boys only in this sample) essentially implicating higher neurological masculization in the development of (sub-clinical) autistic traits,<ref>https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15679528/</ref> in line with the extreme male brain theory of autism. As even subclinical autistic traits seem to be linked to less social connectedness and loneliness<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-018-3812-6</ref> it therefore likely that exposure to excess levels of testosterone in the prenatal environment is associated with lower social status, less romantic success and other negative social outcomes, suggesting that this trait is subject to significant balancing selection in modern society. | |||
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 that the release of short bursts of T 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> | They also generally do not take into account the effects that the release of short bursts of T 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> | ||