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Testosterone: Difference between revisions
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These null results are likely due to many contextual factors such as respective culture/ethnicity,<ref>https://www.amazon.com/Behave-Biology-Humans-Best-Worst/dp/1594205078</ref> age of the male,<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1054139X14002250</ref> and the male's own level of social status<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306453019312934</ref> that serve to moderate the influence of testosterone in driving such behavior. | These null results are likely due to many contextual factors such as respective culture/ethnicity,<ref>https://www.amazon.com/Behave-Biology-Humans-Best-Worst/dp/1594205078</ref> age of the male,<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1054139X14002250</ref> and the male's own level of social status<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306453019312934</ref> that serve to moderate the influence of testosterone in driving such behavior. | ||
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> | Higher 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> This is similar to the conclusions of research into [[FWHR|male facial-width-to-height ratio]], another trait linked to status drive and dominance, which has discovered that this characteristic is only linked to violence in men of lower socio-economic status.<ref>https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30412629/</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. | 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. | 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. Other research has indicated that the broader autism phenotype (BAP) may have had certain adaptive qualities that were evolutionarily selected for in the past, suggesting that neurological masculinzation may previously benefited males [[reproductive success]].<ref>https://www.proquest.com/openview/3b780f7e3a7306b98c528f5dcea7bc46/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750</ref> | |||
Some traits that are linked to higher levels of testosterone exposure in the womb, such as systematizing, may also promote the attainment of social status and wealth, leading to higher fitness and reproductive success. It is plausible that a shift from mating systems based around [[arranged marriage]] and female economic dependence on men towards greater female mate choice together with a greater tendency towards hierarchies being based around likability sheer competence in modern service economies has resulted in lowered sexual success for men that are prone towards systematizing, thus leading to yet another potential evolutionary mismatch. | |||
Another potential factor that serves to mask effects in research that examines the link between status and testosterone is that these studies often do not take into account the effects that the release of short bursts of T may play in mediating to outcome of dominance contests. However, 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> | Another potential factor that serves to mask effects in research that examines the link between status and testosterone is that these studies often do not take into account the effects that the release of short bursts of T may play in mediating to outcome of dominance contests. However, 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> | ||