Testosterone is the hormone of masculinity and sex drive. Testosterone triggers male forms of sexual behavior: the most obvious differences between M and F, such as aggressiveness, risk-taking, dominance, energy, self-confidence, impatience, desire to compete, are determined primarily by the level of testosterone in the blood. Men become «roosters», easily flaring up with anger and showing pugnacity.
Estrogens are female sex hormones. Influence on character: fears, pity, empathy, affection for babies, crybaby. Women are chickens.
High levels of both testosterone and estrogens, combined with the development of male and female skills, give androgyny: an elite combination of male and female traits.
Initially, the hormonal influence on the character is not very large — babies are almost the same. A serious shift is puberty. With age, somewhere after 40-50 years, male sex hormones are washed out of the body in men, which makes the man’s body take on a more feminine shape — it grows fatter, rounder … Changes are also observed in the psyche: men become more sentimental, they become more important relationships with loved ones, they are drawn to the family and children.
What do hormones affect?
Physiologically speaking, an increase in testosterone levels increases levels of norepinephrine and some dopamine levels, in turn decreasing serotonin levels. As far as psychology is concerned, increasing testosterone levels improves intelligence and clogs empathy.
The hormonal background affects the ability to empathize and «feel» the mood of the interlocutor: an excess of testosterone «clogs» empathy. For the experiment, scientists selected sixteen healthy young women (20-25 years old) who had never taken any hormonal drugs (with the exception of contraceptives). During the experiment, the hormonal background of the subjects was not «distorted» by menstrual changes. The researchers asked the girls to describe the mood of people in photographs of the upper part of the face (eyes and eyebrows). The subjects performed the tasks in the normal state and under the influence of testosterone. It turned out that with an increase in the concentration of testosterone in the blood, the girls lost their «innate» abilities. At the same time, the male hormone did not change the mood of the subjects. «Scientists have previously done similar studies with men,» the study authors write. “Then they found out that female hormones “teach” men empathy.”
What affects your hormonal levels?
Numerous studies have shown that fatherhood lowers testosterone levels in men’s blood. After the birth of a child in the family, sexual activity decreases, therefore attachment to the family increases, and young dads do not go to the left. However, in reality, men react to children’s crying in a variety of ways. Those who failed to calm the baby did not show any hormonal changes. Lucky men, in whose arms the child fell silent, experienced a drop in testosterone by 10%. While participants who simply listened to crying had their male hormone levels jump by 20%. See →
Can you change your testosterone levels on your own? It seems that to some extent, yes. Self-regulation mechanisms operate in the body: what is used develops and strengthens, what is not used weakens and dies. Therefore, if a man practices martial arts, power and extreme sports, more often allows himself anger, his body increases the generation of testosterone. If a girl often plays a blonde and allows herself fears, her body increases the production of estrogen.