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Interest in Babies Negatively Predicts Testosterone Responses to Sexual Visual Stimuli Among Heterosexual Young Men

Samuele Zilioli1, Davide Ponzi2, Andrea Henry2

  • 1Department of Psychology, Wayne State University.

Psychological Science
|December 3, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Men's testosterone levels influence mating and parenting behaviors. Lower testosterone reactivity to sexual cues correlates with greater interest in babies, suggesting a link to life-history strategies in men.

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Psychology
  • Human Behavior
  • Endocrinology

Background:

  • Testosterone plays a role in male mating and parenting behaviors.
  • Individual differences exist in mating versus parenting orientations.
  • Life-history strategies involve trade-offs between reproduction and survival.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between interest in babies and testosterone reactivity in heterosexual young men.
  • To test if testosterone reactivity to sexual cues is inversely related to interest in babies.
  • To explore the link between testosterone responses and life-history strategies.

Main Methods:

  • Recruited 100 heterosexual young men.
  • Assessed self-reported interest in babies.
  • Measured testosterone levels in response to erotic and nonsexual stimuli.
  • Utilized the Mini-K questionnaire to assess life-history strategy.

Main Results:

  • Interest in babies was associated with a slow life-history strategy.
  • Higher interest in babies correlated with lower testosterone reactivity to an erotic video.
  • No association was found between interest in babies and baseline testosterone or reactivity to nonsexual stimuli.

Conclusions:

  • Testosterone reactivity to sexual stimuli may underlie individual differences in male life-history strategies.
  • Differential testosterone responses to sexual cues are linked to mating versus parenting orientations.
  • This study provides initial evidence for testosterone's role in mediating mating/parenting trade-offs.

Keywords:
interest in babieslife-history theorymating/parenting trade-offsexual stimulitestosterone reactivity

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