Low testosterone is often blamed for low sex drive in men. But does having high levels truly fuel sexual desire? Well, the fluctuations in testosterone may not influence sexual desire as much as previously thought, suggests a recent study.
The study led by an international team from the University of California, Santa Barbara, evaluated the connection between testosterone, sexual desire, and courtship efforts in young men and found that fluctuations in daily testosterone levels were linked to improved courtship behaviors, particularly among single men. Men with higher testosterone levels may see improved fertility, but not necessarily a boost in sexual desire.
“We found no evidence for significant, positive relationships between testosterone and desire, which argues against the notion that day-to-day changes in eugonadal men’s baseline testosterone regulates changes in their sexual desire,” the researchers wrote in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
During the trial, researchers evaluated 41 men by measuring their daily salivary testosterone concentrations. The participants’ sexual desire and courtship efforts were assessed through self-reported responses to questionnaires.
The researchers used continuous time (CT) modeling to test the relationship between testosterone and desire over time. This technique helped to estimate whether testosterone on one day predicts sexual desire on the following days, and whether desire on one day predicts testosterone levels in the future.
“In addition to testing same-day associations between testosterone and desire, our density of data collection allowed tests of time-lagged associations between the two variables,” the researchers wrote.
While the primary focus was on testing the link between testosterone levels and sexual desire, researchers also measured cortisol levels in saliva and conducted exploratory analyses involving cortisol.
The analysis showed that both testosterone and cortisol concentrations were significantly higher in single men compared to those with partners. However, there was higher sexual desire in partnered men, while single men exhibited greater courtship efforts.
“This study provides direct, naturalistic evidence that day-to-day fluctuations in men’s sexual desire are not significantly associated with daily fluctuations in their testosterone concentrations. In other words, a man experiencing higher-than-usual testosterone concentrations on a given day does not typically exhibit higher-than-usual sexual desire on that same day,” the researchers explained.
