Men In Committed, Romantic Relationships Have Lower Testosterone

[Maric86]

Abstract

Variation in human male testosterone levels may reflect, and effect, differential behavioral allocation to mating and parenting effort. This proposition leads to the hypothesis that, among North American men, those involved in committed, romantic relationships will have lower testosterone levels than men not involved in such relationships. Our study is the first to examine whether being in such a relationship (rather than being married) is the meaningful predictor of male testosterone levels. 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. Furthermore, the testosterone levels of married men and unmarried men who were involved in committed, romantic relationships did not differ, suggesting that, at least for this sample, male pair bonding status is the more significant predictor of testosterone levels than is marital status.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13129483

 

[Vinero]

Do they describe what the mechanism is for the lower Testosterone? I couldn't find it.
Having high T levels isn't the end all be all anyway, unless the main site you visit on a regularly basis is bodybuilding.com and you want to look like Ronnie Coleman or Phil Heath.
(no offence to natural bodybuilding and weight-lifting, I fully believe in that).
What other hormones would rise or fall when having romantic relationships?
It has been shown for example that progesterone rises, and serotonin lowers when falling in love, in both men and women.
Even watching movies with a romantic theme elevate progesterone levels,
while watching movies with a lot of violence, gang-violence, shooting etc. increase testosterone.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/07/040722085905.htm

`Watching a romantic movie can boost progesterone levels more than 10 percent, bringing couples closer together, according to new research at the University of Michigan`
`Men and women reacted totally differently to a "Godfather: Part II" scene where a young Vito Corleone acquired and consolidated power after killing a hated foe. High-testosterone men saw their power motivations and testosterone levels jump as much as 30 percent as their need for affiliation dropped`

Edit: I am not saying having a good amount of testosterone isn't important, but you have to watch what other hormones rise and fall too. I think DHT and DHEA are just as important as T, and maybe they rised during this study? You can't conclude from this study whether having a romantic relationship is good or bad just because it lowered T.

 

[jb116]

Problem I see, quickly looking at this is there is no control for the timeline before being in relationships. The results lack real meaning.

 

[paymanz]

Low T men fall in love or love makes men to have low T? Thats the question! LOL

 

[theLaw]

Low T men fall in love or love makes men to have low T? Thats the question! LOL

Love, in many cases, is actually a crush where the guy lacks confidence, and allows the girl to lead (if mamma ain't happy....)..........or the girl lacks confidence, and allows the guy to cross the line with poor boundaries (the player).

A crush is a clear stress. Just look at a teenager who becomes enamored by another boy/girl. They lose their appetite, and obsess over the other person; certainly not a healthy relationship.

Low T guys would also probably have higher estrogen, so you have to ask yourself what type of woman would agree to be in a relationship with someone like that.

 

[ecstatichamster]

high T guys can have high estrogen, too, as I do.

Also in many cultures T is far lower than it is in the US, and the men seem fine with normal drives and sexual performance.

It's been long established that having babies lowers T for men, if they are committed fathers.

T goes up if a man is a mover and shaker and "winner". Victories raise T.

 

[Pulstar]

A crush is a clear stress. Just look at a teenager who becomes enamored by another boy/girl. They lose their appetite, and obsess over the other person; certainly not a healthy relationship.

Well said. IMO, these strong feelings of "love" can go hand in hand with poor health, internal imbalances, etc. It's not always the case, but if you lack energy, the relationship migh be a really heavy burden.
I've read that high histamine, for instance, can lead to compulsions (including sexual ones) and addictions.

 

[paymanz]

Love, in many cases, is actually a crush where the guy lacks confidence, and allows the girl to lead (if mamma ain't happy....)..........or the girl lacks confidence, and allows the guy to cross the line with poor boundaries (the player).

A crush is a clear stress. Just look at a teenager who becomes enamored by another boy/girl. They lose their appetite, and obsess over the other person; certainly not a healthy relationship.

Low T guys would also probably have higher estrogen, so you have to ask yourself what type of woman would agree to be in a relationship with someone like that.

Yeah true.

 

[Aymen]

another studies :
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17196592
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15177709
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28406697
if i remember i saw some studies saying that single men have higher testosterone than married men without kids and married men without kids have more testosterone than married men with kids ..

 

[Aymen]

Love, in many cases, is actually a crush where the guy lacks confidence, and allows the girl to lead (if mamma ain't happy....)..........or the girl lacks confidence, and allows the guy to cross the line with poor boundaries (the player).

A crush is a clear stress. Just look at a teenager who becomes enamored by another boy/girl. They lose their appetite, and obsess over the other person; certainly not a healthy relationship.

Low T guys would also probably have higher estrogen, so you have to ask yourself what type of woman would agree to be in a relationship with someone like that.

they say it's all about personality , what about hight T lol ?

 

[Aymen]

they say it's all about personality , what about hight T lol ?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3223653/

 

[YourUniverse]

Evolutionarily speaking, isnt T designed to allow the man to "spread his seed" through competing and beating other males and winning the females? If thats true then it would make sense that men who no longer play the game, because they are wifed up, lose some of their "male potency"

 

[lvysaur]

Also in many cultures T is far lower than it is in the US, and the men seem fine with normal drives and sexual performance.

Which cultures? Everything I've seen shows Asian and African cultures having higher Testosterone levels.

 

[Such_Saturation]

This must be the final piece of the puzzle... quick, all peaters try being singl- oh wait

 

[X3CyO]

Yeah who needs to raise their own kids when you can just donate sperm and have someone else do it for ya. Alfalfa as fuk.


Peat isnt necessarily pro testosterone.

 

[stevrd]

There are too many confounding variables to identify any cause and effect. We can only form hypotheses, and even then, they are speculative at best. There is also research showing that married men have more sex than unmarried men. Not sure if the difference was statistically significant, but it was observable nonetheless.

If I had to guess the mechanism of why married men/married men with kids have lower T, it would go something like this: More responsibility = more stress= sympathetic nervous system= cortisol = lowers T.

It seems that most stress in life tends to lower T. Married men, and married men with kids have, on average, more responsibilities than unmarried men/men with no kids. Married men are, on average, more successful, which comes with more responsibility as well. Marriage and children often give men the impetus needed to go out and procure more money (in evolutionary terms- ensure stability/provide food/ shelter). If men are to stay married, then they take on the responsibility of becoming providers, which is more stressful/pro-sympathetic stress overall. Being a provider means more work, because you no longer have yourself to care for, but others as well. It also is psychologically more stressful because every decision you make not only affects you, but those you are providing for as well. You start to care more about social status so that your family's name will be respected more, so that even when you are gone, your legacy lives on.

Another thing is, if married men do have more sex (probably due to being with a stable partner with potentially more opportunities for sex), then maybe more ejaculations raise prolactin and keep T lowered. Some research actually shows that if you have a moderate amount of ejaculations, like once or twice per week, prolactin levels are more stable, whereas if you ejaculate daily, you tend to drive prolactin higher, increase your need for zinc, and could potentially lower T from multiple pathways as a result.

Many variables to think of, and not one of them resembles anything worth basing one's decision on whether to get married or not. That should be based on life goals/values.

 

[raypeatclips]

There are too many confounding variables to identify any cause and effect. We can only form hypotheses, and even then, they are speculative at best. There is also research showing that married men have more sex than unmarried men. Not sure if the difference was statistically significant, but it was observable nonetheless.

If I had to guess the mechanism of why married men/married men with kids have lower T, it would go something like this: More responsibility = more stress= sympathetic nervous system= cortisol = lowers T.

It seems that most stress in life tends to lower T. Married men, and married men with kids have, on average, more responsibilities than unmarried men/men with no kids. Married men are, on average, more successful, which comes with more responsibility as well. Marriage and children often give men the impetus needed to go out and procure more money (in evolutionary terms- ensure stability/provide food/ shelter). If men are to stay married, then they take on the responsibility of becoming providers, which is more stressful/pro-sympathetic stress overall. Being a provider means more work, because you no longer have yourself to care for, but others as well. It also is psychologically more stressful because every decision you make not only affects you, but those you are providing for as well. You start to care more about social status so that your family's name will be respected more, so that even when you are gone, your legacy lives on.

Another thing is, if married men do have more sex (probably due to being with a stable partner with potentially more opportunities for sex), then maybe more ejaculations raise prolactin and keep T lowered. Some research actually shows that if you have a moderate amount of ejaculations, like once or twice per week, prolactin levels are more stable, whereas if you ejaculate daily, you tend to drive prolactin higher, increase your need for zinc, and could potentially lower T from multiple pathways as a result.

Many variables to think of, and not one of them resembles anything worth basing one's decision on whether to get married or not. That should be based on life goals/values.

Do you have a link to the studies about 1-2 ejaculations a week keeping prolactin stable? I've only seen the "famous" 7 day abstinence study that's posted everywhere didn't know there were others.

 

[Waynish]

How many men are ruined by "committed relationships" such that they're killing our potential averages? :)

 

[stevrd]

Do you have a link to the studies about 1-2 ejaculations a week keeping prolactin stable? I've only seen the "famous" 7 day abstinence study that's posted everywhere didn't know there were others.

That was the study I am referring to. I guess they claimed just one ejaculation per week. What's interesting though is that if continued for after a week, subjects saw a drop in T levels. So it seems based on the researchers interpretation, it is important to ejaculate, just not more than once weekly.