Contact with attractive women raises stress hormone levels in men
The stress hormone cortisol increases in men if there is an attractive woman around. This has been revealed by research conducted by the Groningen biopsychologist Leander van der Meij that will be published in the prominent academic journal Hormones and Behavior.
Van der Meij tested 84 men aged between 18 and 27. These men had to wait for five minutes with a woman or man they had not met before. After this contact period, the men assessed the attractiveness of the person who had kept them company while they were waiting. The research revealed that cortisol levels rose depending on how attractive the woman was perceived to be.
Stress
The main characteristic of the hormone cortisol is that it is released under stress. Chronically high cortisol levels can be bad for the health, but cortisol is also an important instrument in the body and plays a useful role during everyday events, including discussions with colleagues or a game of tennis.
Energy
Van der Meij expects that cortisol released during contact with an attractive woman has an activating effect, for example by making extra energy available. In this way, the release of cortisol could prepare men for flirting with women.
Note for the press
More information: Leander van der Meij, tel. 06-41822908, L.van.der.Meij@rug.nl
Article: van der Meij L., Buunk A.P., and Salvador A. (in press). Contact with attractive women affects the release of cortisol in men. Hormones and Behavior.
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.04.009)
| Last modified: | 15 September 2017 3.29 p.m. |
More news
-
23 April 2019
From paperclip to patent
How is it possible that an albatross doesn’t crash and die when it lands? And how come its large wings don’t break due to air resistance? That is what you would expect, according to the laws of aerodynamics. However, Professor Eize Stamhuis has discovered...
-
17 April 2019
Why lightning often strikes twice
In contrast to popular belief, lightning often does strike twice, but the reason why a lightning channel is ‘reused’ has remained a mystery. Now, an international research team led by the University of Groningen has used the LOFAR radio telescope to...
-
17 April 2019
Annita Kobes, Floor Middel en Pieter van Rees met Fulbright beurs naar VS
Annita Kobes, Floor Middel en Pieter van Rees, alle drie promovendi aan de Faculteit Gedrags- en Maatschappijwetenschappen, krijgen een Fulbright scholarship toegewezen. Met deze beurs kunnen zij drie maanden onderzoek doen in de Verenigde Staten.