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Getting married saps your testosterone (newscientist.com)
14 points by baha_man on Oct 20, 2007 | hide | past | favorite | 25 comments


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.


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?


I highly approve on all counts.


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-intelligenc...


Likewise, I approve.


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


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?


He fucks more beautiful girls than you.


Crass, but probably true


Not entirely sure myself. I'm just saying that low testosterone levels can be raised if one is willing to make an effort.


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.



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.


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 ;).


Marrying is likely to reduce your chances of making a contribution to science (and of commiting crimes), but I have not seen any studies showing it will reduce your chances of succeeding in business. I would have guessed the opposite. Anyway, most men and most geeks are better off married, IMO, and after age 22 or so better off with low testosterone. Before that age, high testosterone is probably better for geeks because it promotes the formation of the dense tangles of neurons that seem to help in science and technology.


Sam Walton went from a dime store to Walmart and Sam's Club while happily married with 4 kids.


And over the same period of time, millions of other married men didn't do anything.

Anecdotes are nice stories.


On the other hand, many lawns were well-maintained and assorted yard projects completed.


Let's be clear: I'm not knocking married life, just anecdotes as arguments.


Agreed. I was being satirical in my agreement with you; imo, yard work and lawn mowing, in the grand scheme of things, is doing nothing, as you stated. Sorry my attempt at comedy didn't come through. BTW, I am knocking married life.


Millions of other single men didn't do anything either.


It's in Plato's Republic, maybe the first chapter. I mean, they don't literally say testosterone, but it's the same idea.


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.


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 :)


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.




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