We kinda like the whole high-levels-of-testosterone ‘thing’ in men. Sure, it’s not a very ‘modern’ to admit that you like the caveman vibe, but think about the hottest men in Hollywood history – Richard Burton, a young Marlon Brando, Javier Bardem – they’ve all got those qualities we traditionally associate with testosterone like assertiveness, sexual virility and, I don’t know, beards. Which why it’s no surprise that women find men smell most attractive when they’ve got high levels of testosterone in their bodies. We get it, we know that smell.
HOWEVER, before you go and grab yourself a caveman, you might want to hold fire. New research has found that lower testosterone levels are actually far better in long-term relationships. Oh bother.
The study, which was carried out by researchers at the University of Michigan%20){href='http://ns.umich.edu/new/releases/22117-men-women-in-more-satisfying-relationships-have-lower-testosterone?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20umns-releases%20(University%20of%20Michigan%20News%20Service%20-%20News%20Releases)%20' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'} found that lower testosterone benefited both men and women in relationships, as they reported having more commitment and satisfaction in their relationship compared to their more testosteroney counterparts.
Robin Edelstein, the study's lead author said, ‘The assumption is, generally, that high testosterone is good for sexual relationships. These findings suggest that once people are in a relationship, lower levels of testosterone may be beneficial – or may reflect better on-going relationship dynamics.’
The researchers came to their conclusion by studying data from 39 straight couples between the ages on 18 and 30 who were in relationships for between two months and seven years. The couples were asked to answer a questionnaire about their satisfaction, commitment and investment to the relationship. The researchers found a strong association between the quality of a person’s relationship and their partner’s testosterone levels, with both men and women with higher levels of testosterone negatively correlating to their partner’s satisfaction.
So, basically, what the research is saying is that, when you go for a high-testosterone-level guy, you risk a relationship that’s more likely to fail. Which is obviously a bummer, but to be honest we didn’t really need researchers to tell us that.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.