Infant Crying Levels Elicit Divergent Testosterone Response in Men

SYNOPSIS

Objective. Lower baseline testosterone (T) among men is generally associated with more sympathetic and nurturant responses to infant stimuli. The effect of exposure to infant crying on men’s levels of T, however, is not well understood. The present study aimed to measure men’s T responses to high and low levels of infant crying. Design. Changes in fathers’ (n = 18) and non-fathers’ (n = 28) salivary T levels from baseline were measured in response to caring for an infant simulator programmed to cry often (high-demand condition) or infrequently (low-demand condition) during a 20-min caregiving simulation. Results. Men exposed to low-demand conditions exhibited significant T reductions from baseline, whereas men in high-demand conditions exhibited increases in T. Compared to men who displayed decreases in T following the caregiving simulation, men who displayed increases in T provided less sensitive care. Conclusions. Results suggest a potential role of high levels of crying in provoking physiological reactions among men that may set the stage for hostile or aggressive responses. More research is needed to illuminate contextual factors that contribute to men’s variable responses to infant crying.

ADDRESSES AND AFFILIATIONS

Debra M. Zeifman, Department of Psychological Science, Vassar College, 124 Raymond Avenue, Box 582, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604 USA. Email: [email protected]. Emma Roellke, Monica Raiss, Sarah King, and Jennie Lytel-Sternberg are also at Vassar College.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank our collaborators Ashleigh Aviles, Kamaria Coley, Cheniah Deane, and Adam Mittman for their assistance collecting and entering the data for this project. We are also grateful to Richmond Thompson and Kelli Duncan for providing expert advice about T; to Jannay Morrow for guidance regarding statistical analysis; and to Michele Tugade, Gianluca Esposito, and three anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier drafts. We are grateful to Susan Lingle, Peipei Setoh, Gianluca Esposito, and James Green for their thoughtful commentary. Finally, we thank all of the men who participated in this study.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURES

The authors have no conflict of interest.

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES

The authors followed professional ethical guidelines in preparing this work.

ROLE OF THE FUNDERS/SPONSORS

None of the funders or sponsors of this research had any role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; or decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by grants from Vassar College’s Research Committee, the Asprey Center for Collaborative Approaches in Science (CCAS), and the Frances D. Fergusson Teaching with Technology Fund to the senior author (DZ).