I have written quite extensively about testosterone whether in my books (The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption; The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature), in my scientific papers (cf. Saad & Vongas, 2009; Stenstrom, Saad, Nepomuceno, & Mendenhall, 2011; Stenstrom & Saad, 2011), or on my Psychology Today blog. Interested readers can check out some of my blog articles on the topic below:
1. Men’s Testosterone Levels at a Sex Club: Can You Feel the Rise?
2. Your “Fertile” Smell Is Affecting My Testosterone Levels!
3. Spectators’ Testosterone Levels and the World Cup Final
4. Poker Competitions Affect Men’s Testosterone Levels
5. Number of Lifetime Sexual Partners…Check Your Testosterone Levels
6. Can the Length of Your Fingers Affect Your Consumption?
7. Fathers-to-be: Drive a Porsche Daily…Doctor’s Orders!
Testosterone (T) is both an antecedent and an outcome measure. A researcher who establishes that men who have higher basal T levels are more likely to engage in intra-sexual violence is exploring T as an antecedent. On other hand, scholars who explore how the outcome of a competitive bout (winning or losing) affects men’s T levels are examining this hormone as an outcome measure. In today’s post, I’d like to briefly discuss a 2010 paper by Patrick M. Markey and Charlotte N. Markey published in Evolution and Human Behavior wherein they examined the relationship between political election outcomes (at the state and district levels) and aggregate online porn seeking behaviors (of the states and district in question). The idea is that in a competitive outcome, the T levels of winners and losers will rise and drop respectively. In this case, the electoral outcome of the candidate that I voted for will yield the appropriate vicarious T response in me. To the extent that T is associated with libidinal drives then one expects that those who voted for winning (losing) candidates will exhibit a boost (drop) in their sex drives, which in this case is measured via porn-seeking behaviors.
Prior to stating the findings, I’d like to briefly digress into the world of song lyrics. As I’ve discussed in several of my books and articles, song lyrics serve as a telling medium from which to study our biological-based human nature (see my earlier blog post on this issue here). Are there any songs that speak to the link between outcomes in competition and sexual interest? Absolutely! In Viens Voir Le Docteur [Come See the Doctor], the French rapper Doc Gyneco speaks to that exact relationship in very vivid terms. I shall translate the relevant passage, which I trust falls under the fair use clause!
“If a sexual encounter is dependent on a victory
Don’t count on the national team, which is struggling
They get drunk, they play bowls
And you in order for your life to improve you await your [job] promotion
And the promotion of Marseille [soccer club] to the first division
If you are looking for a lover, if you want a fun guy
My office is open at all hours
For you, my sweetie, come see the doctor”
Bottom line: Doc Gyneco is stating that as it stands the woman in question is out of luck as her man will only be amorous if the French national soccer team performs well and/or if Marseille is promoted from the second division to the first. Winning (even if only vicariously so) gets the sexual juices flowing!
Returning to the Markey and Markey paper, they used data from the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections as well as from the 2006 midterm elections (senate and gubernatorial races). The porn-seeking data were obtained via WordTracker and Google Trends using two temporal periods: one week prior to the election in question and one week after (which includes the day of the election). For all three elections, the relationship between porn-seeking behaviors and electoral outcomes was statistically confirmed.
So ladies, the next time that your man is watching his favorite sports team on TV and you happen to be in the mood for some loving, pray that they win lest you might end up being disappointed.
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