Long-Term Relationships and Men’s Testosterone Levels

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After slightly more than a three-month hiatus from my Psychology Today blog, I am back! I spent part of the summer in Southern California where I appeared on several shows and podcasts including The Joe Rogan Experience, The Dave Rubin Report, Cara Santa Maria’s Talk Nerdy podcast, and Shane Mauss’s Here We Are podcast (part I, part II). I invite you to listen to these chats wherein I discussed not only my scientific work but also a wide range of issues including the thought police, political correctness, trigger warnings, the culture of offence, religious hatred, belief in quackery, and countless other gripping topics.

In today’s blog post, I briefly describe a recent study published in Evolutionary Psychology and authored by Daniel Farrelly, Rebecca Owens, Hannah R. Elliott, Hannah R. Walden, and Mark A. Wetherell wherein the testosterone (T) levels of three groups of men were compared (these were collected via salivary assays): 1) single men; 2) men in relationships of less than 12 months (these were classified as “new relationships”); and men in long-term relationships (i.e., longer than 12 months). Incidentally, here are some of my other testosterone-related Psychology Today articles:

Poker Competitions Affect Men’s Testosterone Levels

Number of Lifetime Sexual Partners…Check Your Testosterone Levels

Men’s Testosterone Levels at a Sex Club: Can You Feel the Rise?

Your “Fertile” Smell Is Affecting My Testosterone Levels!

Spectators’ Testosterone Levels and the World Cup Final

Can the Length of Your Fingers Affect Your Consumption?

Fathers-to-be: Drive a Porsche Daily…Doctor’s Orders!

Returning to the Farrelly et al. study, men’s T levels should fluctuate as a function of important evolutionarily relevant life stages. Hence, in the same way that researchers have found that soon-to-be fathers and new fathers experience a dip in their T levels (in order to reorient their focus from mating to parenting), men’s relationship status should similarly be linked to T. As predicted, single men and men in new relationships had the same T levels, and these were higher than their counterparts who were in long-term relationships. Incidentally, there were no differences between the three groups in terms of their ages and hence the T effect was not driven by the otherwise natural decline of T associated with aging. Other variables were collected including the participants’ sociosexual orientation (proclivity to engage in non-committal sex) along with their penchant for extra-pair dalliances (cheating). Interestingly, neither of these variables affected the documented T effect nor did fatherhood.

Farrelly et al. argue that to the extent that single men and men in “newer” relationships are still active or potentially active in the mating market, higher T levels are necessary. T drives one’s libido (needed to pursue new sexual opportunities) and it prepares men to respond to intra-sexual competition (the Challenge hypothesis). On the other hand, men who are in long-term relationships are more likely to reorient some of their focus away from seeking new mating opportunities (although such a possibility always exists) and toward behaviors that aid in the retention of their current mates.

As a married man and father to two young children, I see only one solution for me. It is imperative that I immediately enter the market for an expensive sports car. This “medical” purchase would undoubtedly serve to regulate my T levels. Let’s see if I can sell this idea to my wife.

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