Science: Marriage lowers men's testosterone levels

A study published in the October issue of Current Anthropology, demonstrates that married men have lower testosterone levels than bachelors.The study also found that even aloof spouses providing minimal parenting have much lower testosterone levels than single, unmarried men. it also appears that the more wives you have, the lower your testosterone levels.

eBiology News reports, researchers investigated the links between male testosterone levels and marital status among modern-day pastoralists in northern Kenya, of whom less than 1.5 percent consider their wives a source of emotional support.

Their subjects, the Ariaal males, serve as herd boys until they reach puberty, at which point they are initiated, become warriors, and accumulate livestock. They marry late and have children around the age of 30, and value social bonds with male peers more than spousal bonds or familial bonds.

“These findings add to the cross-cultural scope of published data on the topic of human pair bonding, parenting and testosterone. While a number of North American studies have shown lower testosterone levels among monogamously married men compared with their single counterparts, no study outside North America had observed this,” the authors say.