Re: Testosterone

[Beth Benoit]

Title: Re: Testosterone

Linking criminal behavior and testosterone always piques the interest of students, who have no problem agreeing that it "proves" that testosterone "causes" aggression.  

Their certitude usually drops a bit when I point out that higher levels of testosterone - a hormone produced in greater abundance during stress - would also be a likely result of being imprisoned.  (NO one ever tries to say imprisonment wouldn't be stressful.)

This is a good example of how perhaps correlation isn't always causation.

I also like to point out that women who are incarcerated are also shown to have higher levels of testosterone than those on the "outside."  (See September/October, 1997, issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.)  (This study attempted to link high levels of testosterone to dominating behavior in prison.  No mention was made in the article of the mitigating factor of stress.)

Beth Benoit
University System of New Hampshire

---
You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]