Tiger Woods is the latest high profile celebrity to get caught having an extra-marital affair. Although Mr. Woods has apologized to his fans and his family -- "I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all my heart" -- people still want to understand why he did it and what we can learn that might help us in our own relationships. I wrote a recent article, Tiger Transgresses: 5 Little Known Secrets to Why Good Men Cheat. Here I'd like to talk about our hormones.
When trying to understand male behavior, it's not a bad idea to take a look at testosterone and to do that you might want to take a look at your right hand. The ratio between index and ring finger is believed to be linked to exposure to the male hormone testosterone in the womb. On average, men tend to have longer ring fingers and women longer index fingers. The higher the testosterone, the greater the length of the ring finger and the more "masculine" the resulting child -- whether male or female. The longest ring finger is known as the "Casanova pattern".
The Male Hormone Testosterone: The Key to Manhood
Testosterone isn't the only important hormone that we need to understand, but it is the most central in treating the Irritable Male Syndrome. It is credited with making men strong, shrinking their bellies, protecting their heart, and boosting sexual desire in both men and women. It also helps with irritability and depression, particularly in older men.
Larrian Gillespie, M.D., an authority on male and female hormonal changes says that it is testosterone that helps men stay "forever strong, forever young." She calls it the "Holy Grail of manhood." Testosterone is an androgen that is produced both in the adrenals and testes of men. Women produce this same steroid from their ovaries, but as is true in all aspects of life, quantity is important. "The average male pumps out 260-1000 nanograms of testosterone per deciliter of blood plasma, dwarfing the minuscule 15-70 nanograms a woman gets to play around with in her body." Men also produce estrogens, but in much smaller quantities than do females (at least until women go through menopause and their estrogens drop precipitously).Are You A High T Guy or a Low T Guy: More Is Not Always BetterWe live in a time where many believe that "bigger is better," that going fast beats going slow. We never seem satisfied with what we have. I have a client who has an addictive personality. He's had problems with everything from alcohol to drugs, from gambling to sex addiction, from overwork to overeating. He tells me, "My drug of choice is more." Living in the world we live in, it is not difficult to get caught up in what I call the Bigger-Better Syndrome.
It shouldn't surprise us to find that this often applies to testosterone as well. If high T is good, well higher T must be even better, and why not go for the highest T possible. In fact this seemed to be the attitude of many men in a study conducted by Robert S. Tan, M.D. He asked the men this question -- "If the doctor told you that your testosterone levels were normal, would you still want a testosterone shot?" Tan said he was surprised by their response. "Almost half (48%) said YES, implying that there is never too much of a good thing!"Given all that I have said about the benefits of testosterone you may wonder why I would suggest that lower may be better. Well, in our high speed, high tech world of big business where we are told that the latest pharmaceutical is just what we need, it may turn out that we shouldn't mess with father-nature. It may not be an accident that young men often have testosterone levels exceeding 1000ng/dl. while men in their 80s average 200ng/dl. Look at it from an evolutionary perspective. Young men need all that testosterone to be able to compete with other testosterone driven males for the right to mate with the most attractive females. The joke about men thinking with our penises serves the evolutionary mandate to reproduce. After menopause women can not reproduce. Although men can have children past 50, most of us don't.
I've heard many post-menopausal women say that they are happy to be out of the "mating game" where every minute of every day some man is looking at her and thinking "I'd sure like to have sex with that one." The woman's focus shifts in new directions. Although many men don't want to admit it, we too are glad to be driven less by our one-eyed friend. "It's nice not to be led around by my cock," one 60 year-old man told me. "It seems that my whole life has been driven by my need to succeed so that I could get an attractive woman to pay attention to me. Once I had one, I felt I had to keep driving myself to prove to her I was worthy of her attention. Meanwhile I was always being drawn like a magnet to younger and prettier women. I know it may seem unmanly to say it, but I'm happy to feel less sexually driven. I can finally think about what I really want to do with my life."Science seems to back up this view that there are considerable advantages to having lower testosterone. One of the top researchers in the field is Dr. James McBride Dabbs, Professor of Psychology and head of the Social/Cognitive Psychology Program at Georgia State University. For over two decades he has conducted cutting-edge research on the effects of testosterone on the lives of males and females. According to writer David France, "Professor James M. Dabbs is to testosterone what Oliver Sacks is to madness. Champion. Iconoclast. Philosopher. Friend." Dabbs covers what we know now and speculates about what we may learn in the future in his highly informative book, Heroes, Rogues, and Lovers: Testosterone and Behavior.
In his research he found that there are actually two kinds of people who differ in their normal levels of testosterone. "Frank Sinatra sang, 'I did it my way,' and the Beatles sang 'I get by with a little help from my friends,'" Dabbs reminds us. "These are the ways in which high- and low-testosterone people approach the world. Sinatra's song is the self-congratulatory, high testosterone way. They are opposing strategies, one based on dominance and the other on cooperation."When I think of higher T and lower T, I often think of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. They started at about the same time, dominated the music world, and will leave a lasting legacy. In contrasting the two groups writer Tom Wolfe said, "The Beatles Want to Hold Your Hand. But The Stones Want to Burn Your Town." Can you guess which one might be the higher T group? Frank Sinatra wasn't a better singer than John Lennon and The Beatles weren't a better band than the Rolling Stones. They are just different. Some people tend to prefer one over the other. I don't suppose anyone has taken blood samples of Beatles fans and compared them with blood samples from Stones fans, but I wouldn't be surprised if they found that their testosterone levels differed.
Dabbs found a number of interesting differences between higher T and lower T people. "High-testosterone people seem to be unhappy when they are alone and happy when they are with people ... Low-testosterone people, on the other hand, seem to be less compulsively social."We can see this in the testosterone levels of various professions. Dabbs and his team measured the testosterone levels of physicians, firemen, football players, salesmen, professors, ministers, and actors. He found that ministers, as a group, had the lowest testosterone levels, actors the highest, and the other groups in between. My father was an actor and in the early years of his career he was a very ambitious, highly sexual, very social, and often irritable. "Actors want to be stars," Dabbs says, "while ministers want to help." I chose not to follow in my fathers footsteps and went into the helping professions. (I must say, though, that when I toured for my book and did my first major T.V. show, I felt the rush of being on stage.)Even though high T people are very social, they can also be more irritable and confrontational. "On the average, high-testosterone individuals are tougher, and low-testosterone individuals are friendlier," says Dabbs.
This difference may have evolutionary advantages in how we reproduce and raise children. Higher testosterone may be important in securing a mate, but lower testosterone may be better for being a good parent and caregiver. Dabbs in fact found that married men are lower in testosterone than single men and that testosterone levels dropped when men get married and go up when they get divorced. He also found that men have higher levels of prolactin and lower levels of testosterone immediately after they become fathers. "Perhaps these hormonal changes set them up for the gentler activities of parenthood," Dabbs concludes.So what can we learn from our exploration of testosterone?We all have a base level of testosterone that is right for each of us.Levels can change due to stress, age, and time of life.Too much testosterone or too little is not good.When we are oriented to achievement and reproductive success in the world, higher testosterone may be more important.As our life circumstances change and we become more interested in nurturing -- our children, grandchildren, and others in the world who need our help -- lower testosterone may be more important.Is Tiger a High T Guy or a Low T Guy?I don't know Tiger Woods personally, but everything from watching him on T.V. and reading about him, I'd guess he is a High T guy. Here's how sportswriter Brandon Tucker describes Tiger's rise:
Almost from the day he was born, Eldrick Woods showed a passion for golf. From his first practice swing to his Nike deal to his 12th major and 52nd PGA Tour victory, WorldGolf.com charts Tiger's long list of accomplishments.Tiger Woods made his PGA Tour debut in 1996. But from his TV appearances as a swinging 2-year-old to his unprecedented dominance at the junior and amateur levels, the golf world certainly saw him coming. So did Nike, which signed a $40-million deal with Woods as soon as he turned pro.Financially set before he'd won a dollar in official prize money, Woods quickly went about justifying the hype. He won twice in his abbreviated rookie season. The following year he captured the Masters in his first entry as a pro, playing the final round in his trademark (and trademarked) red shirt. He claimed the world No. 1 ranking at age 21, eight years younger than anyone had done it before (the previous youngest No. 1 was 29-year-old Bernhard Langer in 1986).The golf world quickly reacted to his uncanny blend of power and precision, "Tiger-proofing" courses in a bid to restore balance to the Tour. Augusta National and numerous other stops installed new championship tees and bunkers designed to corral 300-plus-yard drives. New courses were built to 7,500 yards and beyond; classic 1920s designs were deemed obsolete if they didn't add length.
Put it all together and I'm betting Tiger Woods is a high T guy. Among the pressures he faces is how to express his high T personality when his image is one of "Mr. Nice" guy. Maybe now that the cat is out of the bag he can be more himself. Are You or Someone You Love a High T Guy or a Low T Guy?Everyone is born with a built-in, genetically driven, level of testosterone that we will grow into when we become sexually mature. Some guys are naturally at the lower end of the normal scale. Some guys are higher. One way to find out where you stand is to have your testosterone levels checked when you are at your peak, say at age 18 to 24.Another way to check is to look at the length of your fingers. Take a look at your right hand and look at the length of your ring finger in relationship to your index finger.It is the simplest hands-on experiment -- and, for once, it is safe to try this at home. Compare the length of your fingers and predict your own future.Everything from sporting prowess to academic ability, sexual orientation to susceptibility to disease can be assessed on the twin measurements of the length of the ring and index fingers. It is science's answer to palmistry.Researchers at Cambridge University have found that finger length can point to success in the City. Traders with longer ring fingers made the most money - up to six times more than those whose ring fingers were relatively short.
The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found finger size accounted for 20 per cent of the difference. Though the finding provoked scepticism -- one blogger tartly responded, "Scientists with little else to do than measure fingers should pull their own out" -- the Cambridge boffins are not alone. The significance of finger length has been investigated by research groups worldwide -- with surprising results.The ratio between index and ring finger is believed to be linked to exposure to the male hormone testosterone in the womb. On average, men tend to have longer ring fingers and women longer index fingers. The higher the testosterone, the greater the length of the ring finger and the more "masculine" the resulting child -- whether male or female. The longest ring finger is known as the "Casanova pattern".Professor John Manning, author of The Finger Book, said the ratio was a "living fossil" of the early period of pregnancy -- a measure of past exposure to testosterone, and future potential.Ring finger longer than index fingerMore often found in men than women, people with longer ring fingers tend to excel on the sports field, especially in running and football.
Scientists at the University of Bath found that children who had longer ring fingers are better with numbers-based subjects such as math and physics, which are traditionally male favorites. A study this week showed autism may be linked with exposure to testosterone in the womb. Autism is sometimes described as the "extreme male brain" and is four times more common in boys than girls. Finger length might provide an early warning of the condition. Canadian researchers from the University of Alberta have found a correlation between length of the ring finger and levels of physical aggression -- as would be expected in the most masculinised individuals.Index finger longer than ring fingerThe traditional pattern in women, long index fingers can predict a child's academic strengths. Scientists at the University of Bath found that longer index fingers indicated good verbal and literacy skills, where girls dominate. The findings were published in the British Journal of Psychology in 2007. Studies of sexual orientation have shown that lesbian women are more likely to have longer ring fingers, suggesting exposure to higher levels of fetal testosterone. Professor John Manning said research he had conducted suggested that gay men were more likely to display feminized finger ratios, suggesting less testosterone exposure in the womb.If you'd like to learn more about my work, come visit my website at www.MenAlive.com
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