Washington Post social science columnist Richard Morin has one of his blurbs published in this StarTribune piece: Married men have less testosterone than singles. The original article on the research was published in this piece in the Harvard Gazette: Marriage lowers testosterone: Hormones range less on the homestead.
No real shocker here, but a good read on how nature tries to help us out once we’re hitched.
“It makes sense,” notes Peter Ellison, professor of anthropology. “Lower levels of testosterone may increase the likelihood that men will stay home and care for their wives and kids, while decreasing the likelihood they will go out drinking with the guys and chase other women.”
This line caught my eye, since my wife and I have had at-home offices across the hall from one another for over a year now: “…men who spent lots of time with their wives — sociologists call this “social investment” and say it indicates a commitment to the marriage — had even lower testosterone levels than other married men.”
But in case you’re tempted to go the Androgel or androstenedione (Mark McGwire) route:
Gray and Ellison take note of what they call “a silent experiment” that is taking place. Physicians wrote more than a million prescriptions for the hormone in 2001 for men who hope that it will raise their libido, slow aging, and reduce muscle and bone loss. No scientific study has conclusively shown this will actually happen, but demand is high for testosterone patches and Androgel, a salve that men rub on their skin… “What will be the result of millions of middle-aged men rubbing themselves with Androgel?” Ellison wonders aloud. “Will hormone replacement therapy reduce their motivation to care for their children or increase their infidelity? Or will it vitalize marriages? What will be the consequence for athletes of steroid use over many years?” … There is a clear association between high testosterone levels and prostate cancer, and evidence that the hormone raises the risk for heart attacks and strokes.