Cav's Place

Another flawed study, but food for thought. Since we know testosterone is mainly responsible for a person’s sex drive and also for the “hunter” instinct when it comes to sexual partners, wishing for others either instead of or on top of the existing one(s), a few interesting speculations can be made.

If married men have much lower testosterone levels than single men, it would seem to indicate that a low testosterone level makes a man want to settle down. However, since this study was performed on men who consider their spousal bonds as having little or no value, and it suggested including men who had affairs besides their marriage, it would seem that the low testosterone level is an effect instead of the cause.
Including aloof men in the study makes it seem that the lower testosterone levels are a result of simply having a stable partner, one that you are involved with for a large enough portion of the time spent being involved with anyone. Which brings me to the first flaw in the study: What about men who are in a committed relationship without marriage? If both options would be available to a man, would there be any noticeable difference in testosterone levels between those who chose to marry and those who chose not to, assuming an equal interest in the relationship as a whole? I for one highly doubt it, but it’d be interesting to see.

The higher levels in single men can be explained quite simply by not getting enough, or any, sex. The body probably wants to ensure that it won’t miss any opportunity and therefore maintains a heightened state of alert. Same explanation would work for those who are getting enough, but are getting it from varying partners that are changed frequently. The body is never certain the next opportunity will arise in a reasonable amount of time and therefore strives to always make the most of what it knows it has.
It would also be interesting to study the testosterone levels of single men who are single completely by choice, not being interested in sex. The attitude, whether natural or created by training, should normally imply significantly lower levels of testosterone, which if found in single men will once again dent the validity of the study.

As for their findings that men with multiple wives have even lower levels than those with a single wife, on one hand it has been contested even by the researchers themselves since those with multiple wives were significantly older and therefore the lower levels were completely normal, but on the other it makes sense.
If my hypotheses are correct, then the testosterone level is decreased by commitment and increased by not knowing that your sexual needs will be met in the future. And whether you make a commitment to one person or to two or three, it’s still commitment, your body is still able to recognize that you have a stable relationship. Adding that to the fact that having more than one partner increases the chances of your sexual needs being met and that some of those involved in monogamous relationships are still looking for other options while those with multiple stable partners already have variety available to them, it means that the factors that lower the testosterone level are present in a relationship with multiple partners while those that increase it are not.

In the end, what did this study tell us? Firstly, that men who aren’t getting enough sex want way more than they’re getting, which is a truism. Secondly, that men who have a stable relationship with a partner that satisfies at least a part of their sexual needs are significantly less interested in “hunting” for other partners than those who don’t have even that, which is also a logical assumption in most cases. And thirdly that men who are certain to have most, if not all, of their sexual needs, including the need for variety, met by their stable partners are generally content with their sex lives and have little or no interest in finding new partners, which is another generally logical assumption.
That leaves the question of how low does “low” mean, exactly, but assuming that the “low” values are still within acceptable limits for being able to successfully perform sexually and considering the anger and aggression that are induced by elevated testosterone levels and the potential health risks caused by such states of mind, all of that translates into the obvious fact that having one stable partner is generally better than having none, whether that “none” means none at all or none that are stable, and having more than one stable partner is generally better than having just one.
I’d like to see a similar study performed on women as well just to have a comparison since they bothered to make this one, but with such a truism as a conclusion can anybody please tell me what was the point of the study in the first place?