Testosterone Brings On Macho Stupids

How macho are you? That depends, researchers at Stanford University say, on how mucho testosterone you have. A Stanford news release reports that men with higher testosterone levels are more easily threatened, and more likely to overcompensate for perceived threats with macho action.  The researchers gave 54 men a gender identity survey in which they were asked questions about their assertiveness or other qualities typically associated with masculinity or femininity. The men were then given feedback that they believed was based on the survey but in fact was random. Some of the men were told their answers indicated more feminine traits. Others were told the answers indicated more masculine behavior. Then they were surveyed again on a variety of political and cultural views. The men’s saliva was collected at different points in the study allowing their testosterone levels to be measured. Here’s what the research revealed: Higher testosterone men showed greater increases on masculine attitudes like support for war and negative views of homosexuality after being told their answers indicated more feminine traits. Lower testosterone men showed no effects when similarly threatened. “Masculine overcompensation in men appears to be driven by men with moderate to high testosterone levels,” said Robb Willer, an associate professor of sociology at Stanford and the study’s author. “Their levels of support for war and homophobia practically doubled on the scale that we measured them on, where lower testosterone men were unaffected by threats.” Read the study here.