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Yeah, I'm surprised that the article seems to just ignore the role of hormones. There's certainly a decline in testosterone as men age [1]: > Total testosteron
by mycologos 5y ago
Yeah, I'm surprised that the article seems to just ignore the role of hormones. There's certainly a decline in testosterone as men age [1]:
> Total testosterone levels fall at an average of 1.6% per year whilst free and bioavailable levels fall by 2%–3% per year ... [t]wenty percent of men aged over 60 have total testosterone levels below the normal range and the figure rises to 50% in those aged over 80.
I know there's been a lot of pushback on the idea that testosterone is just a masculine hormone, but the link between testosterone and aggression [2] seems pretty well-accepted. So it seems reasonable that declining testosterone might make you more even-keeled.
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2544367/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2544367/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testosterone#Aggression_and_criminality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testosterone#Aggression_and_cr...
- xorfish 5y agoOr it could just be that in societies, where aggression is rewarded with social status, testosterone will increase aggression because it increases the thrive for social status: > The relationship between testosterone and aggression may also function indirectly, as it has been proposed that testosterone does not amplify tendencies towards aggression but rather amplifies whatever tendencies will allow an individual to maintain social status when challenged. In most animals, aggression is the means of maintaining social status. However, humans have multiple ways of obtaining social status. This could explain why some studies find a link between testosterone and pro-social behaviour if pro-social behaviour is rewarded with social status. Thus the link between testosterone and aggression and violence is due to these being rewarded with social status.