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Do testosterone declines during the transition to marriage and fatherhood relate to men's sexual behavior? Evidence from the Philippines.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Gettler, LT; McDade, TW; Agustin, SS; Feranil, AB; Kuzawa, CW
Published in: Horm Behav
November 2013

Testosterone (T) is thought to help facilitate trade-offs between mating and parenting in humans. Across diverse cultural settings married men and fathers have lower T than other men and couples' sexual activity often declines during the first years of marriage and after having children. It is unknown whether these behavioral and hormonal changes are related. Here we use longitudinal data from a large study in the Philippines (n=433) to test this model. We show that among unmarried non-fathers at baseline (n=153; age: 21.5 ± 0.3 years) who became newly married new fathers by follow-up (4.5 years later), those who experienced less pronounced longitudinal declines in T reported more frequent intercourse with their partners at follow-up (p<0.01) compared to men with larger declines in T. Controlling for duration of marriage, findings were similar for men transitioning from unmarried to married (without children) (p<0.05). Men who remained unmarried and childless throughout the study period did not show similar T-sexual activity outcomes. Among newly married new fathers, subjects who had frequent intercourse both before and after the transition to married fatherhood had more modest declines in T compared to peers who had less frequent sex (p<0.001). Our findings are generally consistent with theoretical expectations and cross-species empirical observations regarding the role of T in male life history trade-offs, particularly in species with bi-parental care, and add to evidence that T and sexual activity have bidirectional relationships in human males.

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Published In

Horm Behav

DOI

EISSN

1095-6867

Publication Date

November 2013

Volume

64

Issue

5

Start / End Page

755 / 763

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Testosterone
  • Sexual Behavior
  • Saliva
  • Philippines
  • Marriage
  • Male
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Humans
  • Female
 

Citation

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Gettler, L. T., McDade, T. W., Agustin, S. S., Feranil, A. B., & Kuzawa, C. W. (2013). Do testosterone declines during the transition to marriage and fatherhood relate to men's sexual behavior? Evidence from the Philippines. Horm Behav, 64(5), 755–763. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.08.019
Gettler, Lee T., Thomas W. McDade, Sonny S. Agustin, Alan B. Feranil, and Christopher W. Kuzawa. “Do testosterone declines during the transition to marriage and fatherhood relate to men's sexual behavior? Evidence from the Philippines.Horm Behav 64, no. 5 (November 2013): 755–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.08.019.
Gettler LT, McDade TW, Agustin SS, Feranil AB, Kuzawa CW. Do testosterone declines during the transition to marriage and fatherhood relate to men's sexual behavior? Evidence from the Philippines. Horm Behav. 2013 Nov;64(5):755–63.
Gettler, Lee T., et al. “Do testosterone declines during the transition to marriage and fatherhood relate to men's sexual behavior? Evidence from the Philippines.Horm Behav, vol. 64, no. 5, Nov. 2013, pp. 755–63. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.08.019.
Gettler LT, McDade TW, Agustin SS, Feranil AB, Kuzawa CW. Do testosterone declines during the transition to marriage and fatherhood relate to men's sexual behavior? Evidence from the Philippines. Horm Behav. 2013 Nov;64(5):755–763.
Journal cover image

Published In

Horm Behav

DOI

EISSN

1095-6867

Publication Date

November 2013

Volume

64

Issue

5

Start / End Page

755 / 763

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Testosterone
  • Sexual Behavior
  • Saliva
  • Philippines
  • Marriage
  • Male
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Humans
  • Female