Dr Carole K. Hooven is a professor at Harvard University who conducts research on testosterone. She says in Die Zeit that the hormone has a greater influence on men’s behavior than you might think.
Hooven studied the influence of testosterone on chimpanzees in Uganda early in her career. She saw how drastic the difference in behavior between males and females was due to testosterone. “I noticed that male and female chimpanzees behaved differently, especially when they were aggressive. For example, the adult males have repeated conflicts to maintain or increase their place in the social hierarchy. The males also go on ‘border patrols’ together to protect their territory. When the opportunity arises, they try to expand their territory by killing “enemy” males. The females’ primary concern is to stay safe and take care of reproduction and children. Unlike males, females do not have as many benefits from high status.The higher the man is in the hierarchy, the more resources, such as fruit or sleeping places, are available to him.And that includes – I hate to say this – women as a kind of sexual and reproductive resource. “
Hooven switched to studying men under the influence of testosterone, because she had seen how important that hormone was for behavior in chimpanzees, the man’s closest brother.
The testicles of male fetuses secrete testosterone to develop the physical and behavioral male sex characteristics that prepare them for reproduction. No hormones are needed for female development in the womb. During puberty, estrogen rises sharply in girls and testosterone in boys. Again, testosterone works not only in the body, for example by lowering the voice and increasing muscle mass, but also in the brain, where it increases libido and the tendency to physical aggression. As a result, it can also have effects on men’s social dynamics.”
“When men meet, at the conference table or on the football field, they tend to compete with each other. The brain reacts to social dynamics, to perceptions of competition or threats. This can increase a man’s testosterone levels, which at best turn leads to more adaptive behavior Throughout evolutionary history this competition has often been performed through physical aggression but today it may be worth doing it in other ways A man’s status in turn can lead to he becomes attractive to a woman. Women secrete other hormones that help them reproduce. For example, the hormone oxytocin increases during breastfeeding. This hormone increases the level of dopamine, also called the happiness hormone, which the woman on in turn, gives an incentive to behave in this way.Testosterone has a similar influence on the release of dopamine, making a man feel like a behaves in a certain way. In a way that provides him with happy hormones.”
“I’ve changed some of my views on men since my research. Whenever questions travel about male behavior, I always get tears in my eyes. I have a deep compassion for boys and men and the challenges they face. And because they are stigmatized for acting like men.”
“Men are more willing than women to take risks. If you follow the news about the war in Ukraine, it becomes clear that it is mainly men who voluntarily risk their lives to defend their family, their homeland. There are many other examples of the willingness of men to take on dangerous, heroic situations that benefit us all.”
There is not only problematic male behavior Hooven wants to make clear. And if there is, men are led to it by their nature.
