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Title: Men With Big Testicles Less Likely To Be Caring Fathers
Source:
LiveScience
URL Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/ ... g-fathers-study_n_3895615.html
Published: Sep 10, 2013
Author: Tia Ghose
Post Date: 2013-09-10 11:58:09 by abraxas
Keywords: None
Views: 278
Comments: 20
Men With Big Testicles Less Likely To Be Caring Fathers, Study Shows LiveScience | By Tia Ghose Posted: 09/09/2013 4:28 pm EDT Men with larger testicles tend to be less involved fathers than those with smaller testes, a new study suggests. The findings, detailed today (Sept. 9) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are correlational, so they can't say exactly why the trend exists but only that there is a link. But men who produce more sperm have bigger testes, and sperm production is extremely energy intensive for the body, so it may be that fathers "face a trade-off between investing energy in parenting and investing energy in mating effort," said study co-author James Rilling, an anthropologist at Emory University in Atlanta. [Sexy Swimmers: 7 Surprising Facts About Sperm] Involved dads Scores of studies have shown that children with involved and caring fathers tend to do better emotionally, socially and educationally. So Rilling and his colleagues were interested in understanding what makes some men stellar dads and others AWOL. A 2011 study in the Philippines suggested that men who have high testosterone levels are more likely to marry. Even so, those men who are eventually more involved in day-to-day child care duties — such as changing diapers, running the bath or kissing scraped boo-boos — see their testosterone levels drop more than men who remain aloof after having children. But testosterone has many roles in the male body, so it wasn't clear whether the drop in the male hormone occurred because men were investing more in parenting than in mating. Rilling and his colleagues surveyed 70 married men ages 21 to 55 who had between one and four children about their involvement in caregiving. Only four of the men routinely did more caregiving than the mothers. The researchers then used magnetic resonance imaging to scan the brains of the fathers while they looked at images of their children. The team also scanned the participants' testes to assess volume and measured testosterone levels from blood samples. Men's testes' volume varied considerably — from a little more than a tablespoon in volume to about a quarter cup. Men with bigger testes had a more hands-off parenting style, and the reward centers of their brains activated less when the men viewed their children's pictures. These fathers also tended to have higher testosterone levels. The findings are fascinating and provocative, said Sarah Hrdy, an anthropologist at Citrona Farms who was not involved in the study. "For me, the take-home message is, there is this tremendous potential for nurture in human males, albeit a potential that in different cultural and social situations is not always being tapped," Hrdy told LiveScience. But the study also raises a number of questions, added Hrdy, who is professor emerita at the University of California, Davis; associate in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard; and A.D. White professor-at-large at Cornell University. For instance, no one knows how testicular volume changes over time (although testes do tend to shrink with age). In addition, scientists aren't sure whether men who make more sperm are genetically wired to be detached dads, or whether early life experience or the act of caring for children leads men's bodies to invest less in sperm-making, thereby causing their testicles to shrink, she said. Another possibility is that the trend reveals a trade-off that varies with men's mating strategy, said Robert Martin, a biological anthropologist and author of "How We Do It: The Evolution and Future of Human Reproduction," (Basic Books, 2013). "A man can either invest in looking after the child of one wife, or he can invest more in sperm production if he has several wives," Martin, who was not involved in the study, told LiveScience. Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter and Google+. Follow LiveScience @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.
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#1. To: abraxas (#0)
WTH?
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
I had to look. No wonder I don't much like kids.
"Have Brain, Will Travel
"I wonder who posted this article," I thought, as I clicked on the link.
Not surprising, in the context of r vs k reproductive strategies. Huffpost is too pc to mention this, but I'll bet there is also a strong correlation with IQ, time preferences, and a host of other attributes the marxists label "social constructs". corruptissima re publica plurimae leges - Tacitus
Aw, nuts! So, do men with small BB's make good fathers? I think I'll zipper it up right there.
Ab just posts junk like this to pull our chain...and see what cums out. What a hoot she is. ;-) “The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
One sperm says to the other: "How far is it to the ovaries?" The other one replies: "Relax. We just passed the tonsils." :) That's all I've got to contribute to this one.........
#2. To: abraxas (#0)
#3. To: All (#0)
#4. To: abraxas (#0)
"face a trade-off between investing energy in parenting and investing energy in mating effort,"
#5. To: abraxas (#0)
#6. To: Jethro Tull, abraxas, 4 (#5)
#7. To: abraxas (#0)
-Alex Kurtagic
#8. To: X-15 (#7)
Linda Lovelace bump
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
#9. To: Lod (#1)
lol.....do you think this study was bias?
" If you cannot govern yourself, you will be governed by assholes. " Randge, Poet de Forum, 1/11/11
"Life's tough, and even tougher if you're stupid." --John Wayne
#10. To: Jethro Tull (#5)
lol.....there is a growing consensus after much careful scrutiny that this study is bias. : ) Aw, nuts!
" If you cannot govern yourself, you will be governed by assholes. " Randge, Poet de Forum, 1/11/11
"Life's tough, and even tougher if you're stupid." --John Wayne
#11. To: Dakmar (#4)
Such topics covered in the study shall not be discussed at any cost Dak....such topics could offend tiny testes which, in turn, would be considered a hate crime and come with a heavy fine and most likely some jail time. lol a strong correlation with IQ, time preferences, and a host of other attributes the marxists label "social constructs"
" If you cannot govern yourself, you will be governed by assholes. " Randge, Poet de Forum, 1/11/11
"Life's tough, and even tougher if you're stupid." --John Wayne
#12. To: abraxas (#0)
:) Big balls bump!!
-Alex Kurtagic
#13. To: Big Meanie (#3)
lol....it's part of a large conspiracy to advocate for tiny testes. I wonder
" If you cannot govern yourself, you will be governed by assholes. " Randge, Poet de Forum, 1/11/11
"Life's tough, and even tougher if you're stupid." --John Wayne
#14. To: X-15 (#12)
I <3 Bon Scott. : )
" If you cannot govern yourself, you will be governed by assholes. " Randge, Poet de Forum, 1/11/11
"Life's tough, and even tougher if you're stupid." --John Wayne
#15. To: abraxas (#14)
Really?? I had no idea... 
-Alex Kurtagic
#16. To: X-15 (#15)
Yes, it's true. lol Really??
" If you cannot govern yourself, you will be governed by assholes. " Randge, Poet de Forum, 1/11/11
"Life's tough, and even tougher if you're stupid." --John Wayne
#17. To: abraxas (#16)
I work with a guy that wears an old AC/DC shirt. I worked them in Chicago years ago. ;)
"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
#18. To: abraxas (#0)
You know what they say, you need big cahones to draw on the drop. ROTFLMAO! Men With Big Testicles Less Likely To Be Caring Fathers
"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
#19. To: BTP Holdings, abraxas (#18)
Q. Did you hear about the 150 lb. man who had 75 lb. testicles? A. He was half nuts!!!
-Alex Kurtagic
#20. To: BTP Holdings (#17)
You lucky dog! : ) I worked them in Chicago years ago. ;)
" If you cannot govern yourself, you will be governed by assholes. " Randge, Poet de Forum, 1/11/11
"Life's tough, and even tougher if you're stupid." --John Wayne
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