Fulfilling desire: Evidence for negative feedback between men's testosterone, sociosexual psychology, and sexual partner number

Abstract

Across human societies and many nonhuman animals, males have greater interest in uncommitted sex (more unrestricted sociosexuality) than do females. Testosterone shows positive associations with male-typical sociosexual behavior in nonhuman animals. Yet, it remains unclear whether the human sex difference in sociosexual psychology (attitudes and desires) is mediated by testosterone, whether any relationships between testosterone and sociosexuality differ between men and women, and what the nature of these possible relationships might be. In studies to resolve these questions, we examined relationships between salivary testosterone concentrations and sociosexual psychology and behavior in men and women. We measured testosterone in all men in our sample, but only in those women taking oral contraception (OC-using women) in order to reduce the influence of ovulatory cycle variation in ovarian hormone production. We found that OC-using women did not differ from normally-ovulating women in sociosexual psychology or behavior, but that circulating testosterone mediated the sex difference in human sociosexuality and predicted sociosexual psychology in men but not OC-using women. Moreover, when sociosexual psychology was controlled, men’s sociosexual behavior (number of sexual partners) was negatively related to testosterone, suggesting that testosterone drives sociosexual psychology in men and is inhibited when those desires are fulfilled. This more complex relationship between androgen and male sexuality may reconcile some conflicting prior reports.

Effects of exogenous testosterone and mating context on men's preferences for female facial femininity

“…This somewhat surprising finding requires consideration of a number of factors for interpretation. Given that T may increase interest in uncommitted sex (e.g., Puts et al, 2015), it is possible that an acute rise in T makes men less attuned to women in committed, long-term contexts, and thus women's characteristics in this context could be less salient. In other words, the smaller preferences for feminine faces in the long-term context by men who received T could represent a lower level of general interest in long-term mating, rather than a lower preference for femininity, per se.…”

High voice pitch mitigates the aversiveness of antisocial cues in men's speech

“…Men with relatively higher levels of endogenous testosterone may also be less trustworthy in mating‐related contexts, as men with relatively higher levels of testosterone are more likely to report higher frequencies of extrapair sex (Booth & Dabbs, ; Fisher et al ., , ), sustained interest in sex outside of their current relationship (McIntyre et al ., ), lower reported commitment to their current relationship (Caldwell Hooper, Gangestad, Emery Thompson, & Bryan, ), and stronger interest in uncommitted sex (Puts et al ., ). The above findings suggest that men with higher levels of testosterone, and hence, lower‐pitched voices, may be relatively less trustworthy in both economic and romantic contexts.…”

A comparison of salivary testosterone measurement using immunoassays and tandem mass spectrometry

“…Testosterone-an androgenic steroid hormone and end product of the hypothalamic-pituitarygonadal axis-has been increasingly studied by psychoneuroendocrinology researchers for its associations with behaviors and psychological processes implicated in social status and affiliation, such as dominance (e.g., Mazur & Booth, 1998), risk-taking (e.g., Apicella et al, 2014), romantic relationships (Edelstein et al, 2014), sexual behavior (e.g., Puts et al, 2015), aggression (e.g., Carré et al, 2014), and competition (e.g., . To assess testosterone levels, researchers across disciplines have adopted the use of salivary hormone analysis.…”