3 ms·

Declining testosterone among men is simply because men (and women, for that matter) are doing less exercise period. Physical exertion causes the body to release

Declining testosterone among men is simply because men (and women, for that matter) are doing less exercise period. Physical exertion causes the body to release more testosterone to help muscle fibers recover. Many physical jobs today are done by machines or robots than ever. Even then, it’s not clear that testosterone levels are correlated with any specific behaviors or that the correlation goes the way we intuitively think it does. The anger and aggression can actually cause people to be more sensitive and react disproportionately to any perceived harm. See also roid rage, the prevalence of steroid use among police officers, and their propensity to provoke confrontation.

csee 5y ago
"because men (and women, for that matter) are doing less exercise period." Is that widely accepted? I really haven't dug into it. I heard something about endocrine disrupting chemicals playing a role, but that could be completely false. "Even then, it’s not clear that testosterone levels are correlated with any specific behaviors or that the correlation goes the way we intuitively think it does. The anger and aggression can actually cause people to be more sensitive and react disproportionately to any perceived harm." Yep, that's why I only consider it a candidate explanation. I heard Robert Sapolsky talk about it and it seems pretty complicated in the way it influences behavior.