Men in committed, romantic relationships have lower testosterone • Hacker News Board

Re: Men in committed, romantic relationships have lower testosterone

#11

Post by dietrichepp » Sat, Jun 13, 2015, 5:20 PM UTC

minimaxir wrote: post #4

> To test this hypothesis, 122 male Harvard Business School students filled out a questionnaire and collected one saliva sample (from which testosterone level was measured). Results revealed that men in committed, romantic relationships had 21% lower testosterone levels than men not involved in such relationships. Since I can't read the paper without credentials, let's say half the participants indicated they are in…

This is the kind of question that you get when you read the abstract but not the article itself.

Re: Men in committed, romantic relationships have lower testosterone

#12

Post by maj0rhn » Sat, Jun 13, 2015, 5:21 PM UTC

The paper's flaw is that it doesn't look at other potential confounders. Here is a simple, but important one: Is there a difference between the amount of sleep that partnered and unpartnered people get? (My experience is lots less sleep when partnered.) It's important because testosterone production depends on pulsatile secretions of other hormones from the pituitary gland that occur during sleep. So, getting less sleep means lower testosterone levels. Take heed, start-up slaves! :-)

Re: Men in committed, romantic relationships have lower testosterone

#13

Post by FrankenPC » Sat, Jun 13, 2015, 5:22 PM UTC

Pinwheeler wrote: post #5

Let's not forget: Correlation != Causation. Does being in a relationship lower your testosterone? Or are women(assuming the men in study were heterosexual, not sure on that, either) more interested in entering into LTRs with men with lower testosterone levels? Edit: Also, was this controlled for age?

This is one variation of a particular line of research. Sexual orientation vs testosterone would be another good one. Getting periodic testosterone readings before long term relationships and then after would be even better to develop a trend. Locating an actual mechanism that modulates testosterone based on instinct/emotions would be even better.

Re: Men in committed, romantic relationships have lower testosterone

#14

Post by seccess » Sat, Jun 13, 2015, 5:23 PM UTC

Pinwheeler wrote: post #5

Let's not forget: Correlation != Causation. Does being in a relationship lower your testosterone? Or are women(assuming the men in study were heterosexual, not sure on that, either) more interested in entering into LTRs with men with lower testosterone levels? Edit: Also, was this controlled for age?

Or, are men with naturally lower testosterone levels more likely to stay in a single LTR?

Re: Men in committed, romantic relationships have lower testosterone

#15

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jun 13, 2015, 5:23 PM UTC

Pinwheeler wrote: post #5

Let's not forget: Correlation != Causation. Does being in a relationship lower your testosterone? Or are women(assuming the men in study were heterosexual, not sure on that, either) more interested in entering into LTRs with men with lower testosterone levels? Edit: Also, was this controlled for age?

[deleted]

Re: Men in committed, romantic relationships have lower testosterone

#16

Post by agumonkey » Sat, Jun 13, 2015, 5:25 PM UTC

Anecdotal question: there's an area, around occipital and cerebellum where romantic memories or grief activate pain, and arousal become impossible. As if having someone there forbids the sexual system to function.

Re: Men in committed, romantic relationships have lower testosterone

#17

Post by orthoganol » Sat, Jun 13, 2015, 5:25 PM UTC

coralreef wrote: post #3

Makes sense. Those who are hungry must hunt. Those whose appetites are satiated can relax.

Anecdotally, it's the opposite for me. When I'm in a relationship my sex drive is a lot higher, and since sex becomes more part of daily life, sex starts coloring things a lot more almost unconsciously, looking at other women more sexually, thinking about it more etc. If I'm single I usually just focus on me and my projects and sex kind of fades away into the background.

However, multi year, really long relationships I could see your testosterone and sex drive drop off, as the excitement of it (neurotransmitter-ly speaking) wears off.

Re: Men in committed, romantic relationships have lower testosterone

#18

Post by sstjohn » Sat, Jun 13, 2015, 5:30 PM UTC

Let me guess: they were all straight.

Re: Men in committed, romantic relationships have lower testosterone

#19

Post by Pinwheeler » Sat, Jun 13, 2015, 5:32 PM UTC

seccess wrote: post #14

Pinwheeler wrote: post #5

Let's not forget: Correlation != Causation. Does being in a relationship lower your testosterone? Or are women(assuming the men in study were heterosexual, not sure on that, either) more interested in entering into LTRs with men with lower testosterone levels? Edit: Also, was this controlled for age?

Or, are men with naturally lower testosterone levels more likely to stay in a single LTR?

ooh, also a possibility!

Re: Men in committed, romantic relationships have lower testosterone

#20

Post by patal » Sat, Jun 13, 2015, 5:37 PM UTC

mindcruzer wrote: post #10

Pinwheeler wrote: post #5

Let's not forget: Correlation != Causation. Does being in a relationship lower your testosterone? Or are women(assuming the men in study were heterosexual, not sure on that, either) more interested in entering into LTRs with men with lower testosterone levels? Edit: Also, was this controlled for age?

My guess is that it's the former. In general, women are attracted to masculinity (assuming heterosexuality), a factor in which testosterone plays a large part.

Let them be attracted. Serves reproduction all right. Hence your evolutionary argument. But the study is about long-term relationships. I'd think social factors, cultural habits, and reflection play an important part there. It's not clear to me, that it's necessarily the former.