Are Sexual Desire and Sociosexual Orientation Related to Men's Salivary Steroid Hormones?

doi:10.1007/s40750-020-00148-y

. 2020;6(4):447-466.

doi: 10.1007/s40750-020-00148-y. Epub 2020 Aug 24.

Are Sexual Desire and Sociosexual Orientation Related to Men's Salivary Steroid Hormones?

Julia Stern¹, Konstantina Karastoyanova², Michal Kandrik³, Jaimie Torrance⁴, Amanda C Hahn⁵, Iris Holzleitner⁴, Lisa M DeBruine⁴, Benedict C Jones⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology & Leibniz Science Campus Primate Cognition, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany.
² School of Social Work and Social Policy, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.
³ Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
⁴ Institute of Neuroscience & Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland.
⁵ Department of Psychology, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA USA.
⁶ School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.

PMID: 33088674
PMCID: PMC7553893
DOI: 10.1007/s40750-020-00148-y

Are Sexual Desire and Sociosexual Orientation Related to Men's Salivary Steroid Hormones?

Julia Stern et al. Adapt Human Behav Physiol. 2020.

. 2020;6(4):447-466.

doi: 10.1007/s40750-020-00148-y. Epub 2020 Aug 24.

Authors

Julia Stern¹, Konstantina Karastoyanova², Michal Kandrik³, Jaimie Torrance⁴, Amanda C Hahn⁵, Iris Holzleitner⁴, Lisa M DeBruine⁴, Benedict C Jones⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology & Leibniz Science Campus Primate Cognition, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany.
² School of Social Work and Social Policy, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.
³ Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
⁴ Institute of Neuroscience & Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland.
⁵ Department of Psychology, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA USA.
⁶ School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.

PMID: 33088674
PMCID: PMC7553893
DOI: 10.1007/s40750-020-00148-y

Abstract

Objective: Although it is widely assumed that men's sexual desire and interest in casual sex (i.e., sociosexual orientation) are linked to steroid hormone levels, evidence for such associations is mixed.

Methods: We tested for both longitudinal and cross-sectional relationships between salivary testosterone, cortisol, reported sexual desire and sociosexuality in a sample of 61 young adult men, each of whom was tested weekly on up to five occasions.

Results: Longitudinal analyses showed no clear relationships between steroid hormones and self-reported sexual desire or sociosexual orientation. Cross-sectional analyses showed no significant associations between average hormone levels and self-reported sexual desire. However, some aspects of sociosexuality, most notably desire for casual sex, were related to men's average hormone levels. Men with higher average testosterone reported greater desire for casual sex, but only if they also had relatively low average cortisol levels.

Conclusions: Our results support a Dual Hormone account of men's sociosexuality, in which the combined effects of testosterone and cortisol predict the extent of men's interest in casual sex. However, we did not detect compelling evidence for an association of within-subject hormone shifts and sexual desire or sociosexual orientation.

Keywords: Cortisol; Dual Hormone Hypothesis; Sexual desire; Sociosexual orientation; Testosterone.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of InterestThe authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Interaction effects between average testosterone and average cortisol levels on the SOI-R full scale score and facets. Note: Hormone levels are scaled. Average cortisol levels are centered for the purpose of illustration. Shades show the 95% CI. X-axis and y-axis are truncated

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References

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1. Cote KA, McCormick CM, Geniole SN, Renn RP, MacAulay SD. Sleep deprivation lowers reactive aggression and testosterone in men. Biological Psychology. 2013;92:249–256. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2012.09.011. - DOI - PubMed

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[1] Arslan, R. C., Schilling, K. M., Gerlach, T. M., & Penke, L. (2020). Using 26 thousand diary entries to show ovulatory changes in sexual desire and behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 10.1037/pspp0000208. - PubMed

[2] Arslan, R. C., Schilling, K. M., Gerlach, T. M., & Penke, L. (2020). Using 26 thousand diary entries to show ovulatory changes in sexual desire and behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 10.1037/pspp0000208. - PubMed

[3] Barr DJ. Random effects structure for testing interactions in linear mixed-effects models. Frontiers in Psychology. 2013;4:328. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00328. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[4] Barr DJ. Random effects structure for testing interactions in linear mixed-effects models. Frontiers in Psychology. 2013;4:328. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00328. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[5] Barr DJ, Levy R, Scheepers C, Tily HJ. Random effects structure for confirmatory hypothesis testing: Keep it maximal. Journal of Memory and Language. 2013;68:255–278. doi: 10.1016/j.jml.2012.11.001. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[6] Barr DJ, Levy R, Scheepers C, Tily HJ. Random effects structure for confirmatory hypothesis testing: Keep it maximal. Journal of Memory and Language. 2013;68:255–278. doi: 10.1016/j.jml.2012.11.001. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[7] Bates, D., Maechler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2014). lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using Eigen and S4. R package version, 1.1–13.

[8] Bates, D., Maechler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2014). lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using Eigen and S4. R package version, 1.1–13.

[9] Cote KA, McCormick CM, Geniole SN, Renn RP, MacAulay SD. Sleep deprivation lowers reactive aggression and testosterone in men. Biological Psychology. 2013;92:249–256. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2012.09.011. - DOI - PubMed

[10] Cote KA, McCormick CM, Geniole SN, Renn RP, MacAulay SD. Sleep deprivation lowers reactive aggression and testosterone in men. Biological Psychology. 2013;92:249–256. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2012.09.011. - DOI - PubMed

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Are Sexual Desire and Sociosexual Orientation Related to Men's Salivary Steroid Hormones?

Affiliations

Are Sexual Desire and Sociosexual Orientation Related to Men's Salivary Steroid Hormones?

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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References

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