Testosterone and Behavior

[Jon Stark]

Just some fodder for discussion. I know many of us try to manipulate our hormone levels whether it's by "natural" (diet, training methods, so on) or by "artificial" (prohormones, steriods, etc) means.

Anyway, this gist of the article is that fidelity and fatherhood among males is associated with low testosterone levels. Not clear whether the research establishes a causal link or just an association.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm....ne_dc_1

I like to think that my behavior is more than just the sum of the hormones at play in my system at any given moment, but there's no denying that T levels influence mood, aggression, so on.

My guess is that perhaps domesticity drives down T levels, but boosting them won't necessarily make you Joey Buttafuoco.

 

[virtualcyber]

My view is that there the high level of testerone does
not cause infidelity, but that it is family life that drives
down the testerone levels. [not the converse].

Production of testerone levels have been linked to
male response to external stimuli. For example, if a male
is watching a sporting event, his testerone level will go up.
If his _favorite team_ wins, the testerone level will
stay elevated for some time after the game.
A study has found that the similar responses are not
found in women. [So, do
you still wonder why men need to watch football?].

The above is just one example of how external
events drive the test levels.

=========================================

It is not too far fetched to correlate younger males'
active search for mates to elevated testerone levels.

 

[Jon Stark]

Yeah, that's basically my hypothesis too.

(That's also part of the reason I try not to get too wrapped up in spectator sports -- why should cede control of my T levels to a sports team? Of course if you're playing, it's not so easy to distance yourself from the outcome.)

 

[virtualcyber]

Yeah, actually I agree about spectator sports, bro.
[Even though, this might sound like heresy to some
folks here].

As for low T-levels in family life, I guess we need
to get our T-levels up by doing ... constructive things.
For example, body building.

 

[Jon Stark]

Yeah, some guys get so into sports and teams and players...  kind of a waste of time and kind of, well, seems like a little too much adoration to me.  A bit weird.  Sometimes it's like they've given up on life and just live vicariously through their teams. (And they have season tickets and are all decked out in their official team merchandise yet moan and groan about high-paid players.)

I'm sure I just pissed off everyone else on this board.  Time to find a new username...

Anyhow, when conversations turn to sports my eyes glaze over.  It's probably a social liability, actually.  My girlfriend knows more about sports than I do.

 

[Lars]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (virtualcyber @ May 24 2002,07:55)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Yeah, actually I agree about spectator sports, bro.
[Even though, this might sound like heresy to some
folks here].[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I consider spectator sports to be a big no-no. What's the use of watching other people doing something that would be much more fun doing yourself ?

It's like watching porn...if you're not in it yourself, you have some work to do

 

[KingProtein]

Anti-spectator sports.  Now I've heard everything!

But to be serious, maybe you don't like watching sports because you weren't raised in that kind of environment.  I have a roommate who grew up in a more academic setting, and never learned to appreciate sports simply because he was never around any of it.  I'd say it's the result of social conditioning more than anything else.

This is a bit interesting to me, because normally i've noticed that the people who ignore sports tend to be very non-physical passive types.  Yet you both are here..hmm..

 

[Lars]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (KingProtein @ May 24 2002,11:50)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Anti-spectator sports.  Now I've heard everything!

But to be serious, maybe you don't like watching sports because you weren't raised in that kind of environment.  I have a roommate who grew up in a more academic setting, and never learned to appreciate sports simply because he was never around any of it.  I'd say it's the result of social conditioning more than anything else.

This is a bit interesting to me, because normally i've noticed that the people who ignore sports tend to be very non-physical passive types.  Yet you both are here..hmm..[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
You're right in that there was never much sport on TV at home (academics), but...

I've been active starting with Judo at 6 and then continuing through soccer, american football, skydiving, most martial artis etc etc.

Maybe it is just because of this that I fancy doing sports myself, but can't understand why on earth someone would want to *watch* it on TV. Even worse, as someone else mentioned - supporter gear! Goind to another country to see a match! Hooligans! What's up with that ?

 

[virtualcyber]

[This is really getting off original
topic but ... let me reply to
Lars and KingProtein]

IMO, whether one decides to be &quot;spectating&quot; is a matter
of personal choice.

_Personally_, I agree with Lars and Jon
that spectator sports is ... relatively useless. I avoid
it because I always feel like a dufus after
watching, cheering and getting excited about a
team that has nothing to do with
my life. After all, NFL, NBA, etc., are all gigantic industries
designed to have us addicted to their shows (by honing
on male tendency to enjoy watching competition),
so they can make $$$$$.

Of course, TV, newspapers, and media
are all in this scam together, so they all try to foster
that sense of &quot;home team.&quot; What a f***ing
bunch of B.S.

Folks, it is just my personal view -- I hope
I did not offend too many people here.

 

[Lars]

I don't care if I offend someone with this - the worst I ever hear is someone, especially those that apparantly never have played any sport and only occasionally showers, says &quot;we won&quot;. What do they mean &quot;WE&quot; ?? *THEY* didn't win anything unless they bet on the winning team. Their favourites won. This is actually something that really bugs me.

Apart from that, I don't really care of someone wants to watch or not as long as they don't expect me to share their obsession. I'd rather play myself

 

[Jon Stark]

&quot;We won!&quot; Yeah, that's a classic. I also love the guys who harass players on the visiting team, or players who defect to other teams.

Yeah KingProtein, I sort of agree with you, although I played basketball and football in high school and I certainly appreciate sports in general. And if I have kids I'll certainly encourage them to participate in some kind of sports, since I think it imparts some valuable lessons about life -- teamwork, sacrifice, strategy, sportsmanship, etc.

Yet when someone asks me, &quot;so you see the game?&quot; about 90% of the time I haven't a clue what game or even sport they are talking about.

Lars and I are on the same page regarding porn too. Sort of like turning sex into a spectator sport that's best left to the &quot;pros&quot;. I'd rather participate. And I can't think of many things more depressing than paying money to watch other people who are getting paid to have sex.