Heroes, Rogues, & Lovers: Testosterone and Behavior Read Online Free
Author: James McBride Dabbs, Mary Godwin Dabbs
Tags: test
high in testosterone, are confident, tough, competitive, bold, energetic, attractive to the opposite sex, and they are frequently outrageous. They have characteristics in common with James Bond, Kinsey Millhone, Night Man, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Indiana Jones, Luke Skywalker, Sam Spade, and Xena the Warrior Princess. Fictional heroes and heroines let us experience life in dangerous times and on the risky edge of society. Every once in a while, a real macho hero makes the headlines and lifts the spirits of everyone. In the spring of 1999, Matt Moseley put good news on the front page. Moseley was the Atlanta fireman who, dangling from a helicopter line, rescued a crane operator trapped above a burning building. Then, two months later, a team of American women soccer players won the 1999 Women's World Cup and put good news on the front page again. Brandi Chastain kicked the winning goal and flexed her muscles on the cover of Newsweek , 5 and Women's Cup madness was in.
Most people have at least a vague idea about what testosterone is, and in spite of talk about "testosterone poisoning," they believe it is a good thing. When we ask people what testosterone is, they are likely to describe it in terms of football, the Marines, fighting, hunting, fishing, carburetors, tall tales, and sexual adventures. Sometimes they say," You know, it's guystuff."
"Guystuff" is just part of the testosterone profile. Researchers have
Page 6
been busy adding new details to what is turning out to be a complex and intriguing picture. My students and I have found that whenever our work is mentioned in newspapers or magazines, we hear from people who think their testosterone is high and want verification from an expert, or who think it is low and want to know how to increase it. I get calls from people who want their testosterone measured. Not all the calls come from men. Quite a few womenan opera singer in Connecticut, a business entrepreneur in Texas, a telephone sex operator in Chicago, and lawyers in San Francisco, Washington, and New Yorkhave called me.
Over the years, students approached me to study testosterone in lawyers, testosterone and violence in lesbian couples, testosterone and sexual intercourse, testosterone and the counterculture, and testosterone among fans at sporting events. Our research meetings took on a storytelling atmosphere, as students outdid each other in bringing new findings. We studied people ranging from ordinary to truly strange, and we began to uncover many links between testosterone and social behavior.
People who exhibit the qualities linked to testosterone are as varied as Bay and Pat Buchanan, O. J. Simpson, David Koresh, Madonna, Governor Jesse Ventura, Monica Lewinsky, Phyllis Schlafley, Eric Rudolph, George Steinbrenner, Clarence Thomas, and many members of the Kennedy family. Whether they are rogues or heroes, they are colorful people, and their exploits, escapades, and even their nefarious deeds capture our attention and fascinate us.
Measuring Testosterone
In order to learn about testosterone, and to separate it from social, cultural, and other biological influences, we had to measure it in a large number of people. We needed a measure that was simple, painless, and reliable. The standard technique for measuring testosterone is called radioimmunoassay, or RIA. Until recently, RIA measured testosterone only in blood. That limitation was a roadblock to researchers who needed a large number of samples from the general population. People balk at volunteering their blood for science.
Fortunately, I learned that RIA could also measure testosterone in
Page 7
saliva. Saliva is a good substitute for blood as a diagnostic fluid. 6 Saliva originates in a network of blood vessels near the salivary glands, and testosterone passes from the blood into the saliva. Measurements of testosterone from saliva are as reliable as measurements from blood. Further, when we tried collecting saliva samples, we found that
Most people have at least a vague idea about what testosterone is, and in spite of talk about "testosterone poisoning," they believe it is a good thing. When we ask people what testosterone is, they are likely to describe it in terms of football, the Marines, fighting, hunting, fishing, carburetors, tall tales, and sexual adventures. Sometimes they say," You know, it's guystuff."
"Guystuff" is just part of the testosterone profile. Researchers have
Page 6
been busy adding new details to what is turning out to be a complex and intriguing picture. My students and I have found that whenever our work is mentioned in newspapers or magazines, we hear from people who think their testosterone is high and want verification from an expert, or who think it is low and want to know how to increase it. I get calls from people who want their testosterone measured. Not all the calls come from men. Quite a few womenan opera singer in Connecticut, a business entrepreneur in Texas, a telephone sex operator in Chicago, and lawyers in San Francisco, Washington, and New Yorkhave called me.
Over the years, students approached me to study testosterone in lawyers, testosterone and violence in lesbian couples, testosterone and sexual intercourse, testosterone and the counterculture, and testosterone among fans at sporting events. Our research meetings took on a storytelling atmosphere, as students outdid each other in bringing new findings. We studied people ranging from ordinary to truly strange, and we began to uncover many links between testosterone and social behavior.
People who exhibit the qualities linked to testosterone are as varied as Bay and Pat Buchanan, O. J. Simpson, David Koresh, Madonna, Governor Jesse Ventura, Monica Lewinsky, Phyllis Schlafley, Eric Rudolph, George Steinbrenner, Clarence Thomas, and many members of the Kennedy family. Whether they are rogues or heroes, they are colorful people, and their exploits, escapades, and even their nefarious deeds capture our attention and fascinate us.
Measuring Testosterone
In order to learn about testosterone, and to separate it from social, cultural, and other biological influences, we had to measure it in a large number of people. We needed a measure that was simple, painless, and reliable. The standard technique for measuring testosterone is called radioimmunoassay, or RIA. Until recently, RIA measured testosterone only in blood. That limitation was a roadblock to researchers who needed a large number of samples from the general population. People balk at volunteering their blood for science.
Fortunately, I learned that RIA could also measure testosterone in
Page 7
saliva. Saliva is a good substitute for blood as a diagnostic fluid. 6 Saliva originates in a network of blood vessels near the salivary glands, and testosterone passes from the blood into the saliva. Measurements of testosterone from saliva are as reliable as measurements from blood. Further, when we tried collecting saliva samples, we found that
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