Book Title: Heroes, Rogues and Lovers: Testosterone and Behavior

Author: James McBride Dabbs

Publisher: McGraw Hill

ISBN: 0-07-135739-4

Review by Barbara De Vries

Hardback - 2000 285 pages

Computer scientists ARE after all, scientists.   Many of us have eclectic interests, and the topic of the effect of testosterone upon behavior and history is engaging.

Beliefs about testosterone are shrouded in myth and hearsay.  This book assembles and explains the body of knowledge about this hormone (pun intended), presents the scientific research and facts about human biology related to this hormone.

Some excerpts from the book:

“Men and women are similar in many ways – in their bodies, their minds, their hopes and fears.  We should remember this underlying similarity when thinking about the ways in which they differ.”

This quote is followed by a molecular diagram of testosterone and estrogen. (page 9)

By the way, for those who don’t know – women have testosterone, too, just a small amount.

In one of the case studies presented, a Dutch patient was in transition from female to male.  The patient received large doses of testosterone (chapter 3).  Some of the changes the patient reported included:

• Problems expressing himself – increased verbal difficulty

• Reduced fine hand movements, dropping things

• Increased visual awareness of details rather than broad scenes

It is commonly believed that men are better at geography and tasks involving complex movement in three-dimensional space.  Tests performed measuring these types of activities versus testosterone levels reinforce these results.  High-testosterone men do best at mental rotation ability.  “Women are better at mastering the specific details about a locality. “ (page 52)

“While there is no direct tie between testosterone and criminality, there is an indirect tie: testosterone leads toward violence, and violence is often criminal.” (page 77)

“A study of the ability of men and woman to identify facial expressions reveal an ability difference that may underlie masculine remoteness and insensitivity.  The study reported that although women were equally good at identifying unhappy facial expressions in people of both sexes, men were poor at recognizing unhappiness in women.” (page 110)

“My students and I began to notice that friendly and pleasant people were often low in testosterone. … (In the photos) Among the females, there was no relationship between testosterone and facial expression…..The analysis confirmed our hypothesis that low-testosterone males have more convincing smiles… When high-testosterone women are not posing for a picture, they are less likely to smile…When Cashdan watched the women talking in informal groups, she found that those who were lower in testosterone smiled more often.”  (page 157-158)

“Testosterone makes people willing to face danger and narrows their focus to the task at hand, enabling high-testosterone people to help others without thinking about how much it will cost them.” (Page 185)

A discussion of testosterone and altruism follows.

This book also discusses various jobs and the relationship of testosterone,  It also discusses women in “tough jobs” or male-dominated jobs.

This book isn’t for everyone, but if you are prone to ponder the difference between the sexes or desire to understand human behavior, you might check it out.