The University of Michigan recently found out that low testosterone can affect a man’s parental skills. This was evident after close monitoring, which showed that a crying baby could lead to low testosterone levels in men. Since this can affect one’s sexual life, men tend to search for ways to boost testosterone. You can read Men’s Journal to get a better understanding.
At first, the research began by gathering around 175 men in their second fatherhood. Next, their saliva samples were assessed, then the interaction between the father-infant duo was captured in a video.
The researchers then separated the infants from their fathers for a few minutes. As a result, this seemed to upset the babies as they sought comfort from their fathers. During this period, the fathers also spotted that their babies were in distress, so they would try to comfort them, decreasing their testosterone levels.
The second task was then put into motion, where all the fathers were given three boxes, each with a toy inside, including a xylophone, a toy turtle, and an activity box. The fathers were then asked to teach the infants how to operate the toys within five minutes per toy.
The author of this research, Patty Kuo, stated that the second test was meant to discover the men’s stimuli, which include intrusive or delicate. Low testosterone levels were associated with fathers being more delicate with their infants.
In addition, when the infants were girls, the fathers were more delicate than those fathers who had boys. Even the type of relationship that the father and mother shared was discovered to have similar consequences on a man’s testosterone.
Conclusively, it is believed that a sensitive father would have a positive impact on the child’s development skills, including cognitive, social, and emotional capabilities. Therefore, the emotions of the infant from birth can trigger better nurturing from men.
Hormonal Changes in Men Explained
Similar to women, men will also go through hormonal changes during the time of pregnancy. With a psychologist named Robin Edelstein being the lead investigator, it was discovered that most hormonal shifts in men would also develop once their baby is born. Therefore, men tend to be less aggressive when their testosterone levels are lowered.
But these hormonal changes are not meant to scare new fathers, and body changes like loss of muscles and chest hair will not just drastically occur. It is all in the brain, which allows men to take care of their children properly. Factually, low testosterone can last up to 3 months though the period can increase if the father frequently engages in childcare.
As the level of testosterone lowers, men may become good fathers since this allows them to be more empathetic. However, this does not necessarily mean that men with higher testosterone won’t become better fathers. It is only perceived that having higher testosterone could also be a way of protecting infants, though this research is still in progress. Overall, much is still yet to be discovered, but so far, recent studies have been a valuable addition to this field.