4 ms·

Getting married saps your testosterone

14 points by baha_man 19y ago

amichail 19y ago
Also see http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/2006_05_26/scientific_success_what_s_love_got_to_do_with_it http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/prev...
ralphb 19y ago
Not really sure what the point of posting this was; but.. "Testosterone levels are lower among married men probably because they are investing less in mating effort." Yes, but this is true only in the average case. Short remedy: Don't stop investing in mating effort! Fight for your woman. Also, start lifting weights with a focus on excercises that use all the big muscle groups (squats, bench presses, shoulder presses, pulldowns, etc). Start competing in martial arts. Kickboxing maybe? Learn from the dating gurus how to become more of a man (so to speak). David DeAngelo does some interesting work in that field. Your testosterone levels will be fine.
- rglullis 19y ago
  I am not sure what was the point of your comment. Are you trying to encourage the guys here to be more manly? More sexually active? To get more girls?
  - gscott 19y ago
    There is a VH1 show that should be manditory viewing for all readers of HN, search around here for results. This is like hacking the female mind: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=vh1+mystery http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=vh1+mystery
    - rglullis 19y ago
      I don't know if this is me getting old, but I refuse to live in a world where people are supposed to take dating advice from a guy that uses nail polisher. * to the one(s) who voted me down: I took a look at the videos, and all I've seen was some dude who calls himself "mistery" and says that using nail polisher is a "conversation starter". Would you care to elaborate on why I should be downmodded?
      - Shorel 19y ago
        He fucks more beautiful girls than you.
        gscott 19y ago
        Crass, but probably true
  - falsestprophet 19y ago
    I highly approve on all counts.
    - aswanson 19y ago
      Likewise, I approve.
    - rglullis 19y ago
      Thing is, I don't know if we are viewing this by the same angle. For all accounts, we could start by breaking the stereotype that nerds will all end as 40 year-old virgins. Second, there was a study [1] that showed high correlation between lower testosterone levels and higher IQ, and little correlation between testosterone levels and sex drive. Third, as someone already said before, the article tells little about age, and that is something way more connected with hormone levels than marital status. [1] : http://www.gnxp.com/blog/2007/04/intercourse-and-intelligence.php http://www.gnxp.com/blog/2007/04/intercourse-and-intelligenc...
  - ralphb 19y ago
    Not entirely sure myself. I'm just saying that low testosterone levels can be raised if one is willing to make an effort.
staunch 19y ago
Someone famous talked about getting old and finally being free from the distraction of high levels of testosterone. Anyone know who I'm thinking of? I sometimes feel that way. Testosterone is double-edged sword.
- aswanson 19y ago
  I know exactly what you mean. I'm in my thirties and I definitely don't have the ridiculous level of drive (or stupidity) that I did in my late teens and early twenties. Maybe it's just the lack of free time.
- bdr 19y ago
  It's in Plato's Republic, maybe the first chapter. I mean, they don't literally say testosterone, but it's the same idea.
- nickb 19y ago
  There are also studies that show that married people lose the drive to succeed and become lazier as well. I remember a study by some Japanese scientist that shows that if you're married, the chances that you're going to discover some new theorem (I think he studied mathematicians) are pretty slim. So yes, definitely a double edged sword. Personally, I think you should put off marriage for as long as you can... unless you find that perfect woman along the way ;).
  - dhbradshaw 19y ago
    Sam Walton went from a dime store to Walmart and Sam's Club while happily married with 4 kids.
    - timr 19y ago
      And over the same period of time, millions of other married men didn't do anything. Anecdotes are nice stories.
      - aswanson 19y ago
imsteve 19y ago
This just in: marriage is no party. There was a similar study with more interesting results that you can actually act on. It found that having a more attractive woman as a partner (even if she is only attractive with makeup) causes men to have higher testosterone from day to day. Just the sight of her will affect your body. Hmm.
dhbradshaw 19y ago
The tribe that this study is about has people marry when they are about 30. Polygamy comes older. If I understand correctly they didn't do anything to separate age out from the data.
gibsonf1 19y ago
Evolutionarily (assuming that's a word) this phenomenon makes perfect sense. Testosterone and aggression high so that fit male is able to mate with discerning fit female. Couple have babies, but testosterone lowers for satisfied male, encouraging him to stay with mate. This mutation would raise the odds substantially that the offspring of the couple survive given the male presence and protection. Then, when said offspring and mate get older and testosterone goes up, all bets are off and the cycle repeats. In the modern era, this phenomenon can be bypassed by commuting via bike everyday in San Francisco up beyond category climbs, at least in my experience so far :)

14 points by baha_man 19y ago

Also see http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/2006_05_26/scientific_success_what_s_love_got_to_do_with_it http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/prev...

ralphb 19y ago

Not really sure what the point of posting this was; but.. "Testosterone levels are lower among married men probably because they are investing less in mating effort." Yes, but this is true only in the average case. Short remedy: Don't stop investing in mating effort! Fight for your woman. Also, start lifting weights with a focus on excercises that use all the big muscle groups (squats, bench presses, shoulder presses, pulldowns, etc). Start competing in martial arts. Kickboxing maybe? Learn from the dating gurus how to become more of a man (so to speak). David DeAngelo does some interesting work in that field. Your testosterone levels will be fine.

rglullis 19y ago
I am not sure what was the point of your comment. Are you trying to encourage the guys here to be more manly? More sexually active? To get more girls?
- gscott 19y ago
  There is a VH1 show that should be manditory viewing for all readers of HN, search around here for results. This is like hacking the female mind: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=vh1+mystery http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=vh1+mystery
  - rglullis 19y ago
    I don't know if this is me getting old, but I refuse to live in a world where people are supposed to take dating advice from a guy that uses nail polisher. * to the one(s) who voted me down: I took a look at the videos, and all I've seen was some dude who calls himself "mistery" and says that using nail polisher is a "conversation starter". Would you care to elaborate on why I should be downmodded?
    - Shorel 19y ago
      He fucks more beautiful girls than you.
      - gscott 19y ago
        Crass, but probably true
- falsestprophet 19y ago
  I highly approve on all counts.
  - aswanson 19y ago
    Likewise, I approve.
  - rglullis 19y ago
    Thing is, I don't know if we are viewing this by the same angle. For all accounts, we could start by breaking the stereotype that nerds will all end as 40 year-old virgins. Second, there was a study [1] that showed high correlation between lower testosterone levels and higher IQ, and little correlation between testosterone levels and sex drive. Third, as someone already said before, the article tells little about age, and that is something way more connected with hormone levels than marital status. [1] : http://www.gnxp.com/blog/2007/04/intercourse-and-intelligence.php http://www.gnxp.com/blog/2007/04/intercourse-and-intelligenc...
- ralphb 19y ago
  Not entirely sure myself. I'm just saying that low testosterone levels can be raised if one is willing to make an effort.

staunch 19y ago

Someone famous talked about getting old and finally being free from the distraction of high levels of testosterone. Anyone know who I'm thinking of? I sometimes feel that way. Testosterone is double-edged sword.

aswanson 19y ago
I know exactly what you mean. I'm in my thirties and I definitely don't have the ridiculous level of drive (or stupidity) that I did in my late teens and early twenties. Maybe it's just the lack of free time.
bdr 19y ago
It's in Plato's Republic, maybe the first chapter. I mean, they don't literally say testosterone, but it's the same idea.
nickb 19y ago
There are also studies that show that married people lose the drive to succeed and become lazier as well. I remember a study by some Japanese scientist that shows that if you're married, the chances that you're going to discover some new theorem (I think he studied mathematicians) are pretty slim. So yes, definitely a double edged sword. Personally, I think you should put off marriage for as long as you can... unless you find that perfect woman along the way ;).
- dhbradshaw 19y ago
  Sam Walton went from a dime store to Walmart and Sam's Club while happily married with 4 kids.
  - timr 19y ago
    And over the same period of time, millions of other married men didn't do anything. Anecdotes are nice stories.
    - aswanson 19y ago

imsteve 19y ago

This just in: marriage is no party. There was a similar study with more interesting results that you can actually act on. It found that having a more attractive woman as a partner (even if she is only attractive with makeup) causes men to have higher testosterone from day to day. Just the sight of her will affect your body. Hmm.

dhbradshaw 19y ago

The tribe that this study is about has people marry when they are about 30. Polygamy comes older. If I understand correctly they didn't do anything to separate age out from the data.

gibsonf1 19y ago

Evolutionarily (assuming that's a word) this phenomenon makes perfect sense. Testosterone and aggression high so that fit male is able to mate with discerning fit female. Couple have babies, but testosterone lowers for satisfied male, encouraging him to stay with mate. This mutation would raise the odds substantially that the offspring of the couple survive given the male presence and protection. Then, when said offspring and mate get older and testosterone goes up, all bets are off and the cycle repeats. In the modern era, this phenomenon can be bypassed by commuting via bike everyday in San Francisco up beyond category climbs, at least in my experience so far :)