
Getting married saps your testosterone - baha_man
http://space.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19626264.600&feedId=online-news_rss20
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ralphb
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
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?

~~~
falsestprophet
I highly approve on all counts.

~~~
rglullis
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...](http://www.gnxp.com/blog/2007/04/intercourse-and-
intelligence.php)

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dhbradshaw
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.

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amichail
Also see
[http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/prev...](http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/2006_05_26/scientific_success_what_s_love_got_to_do_with_it)

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staunch
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.

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

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

Anecdotes are nice stories.

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

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

~~~
aswanson
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.

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gibsonf1
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 :)

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imsteve
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.

