The endocrine system regulates the activities of the body by secreting hormones into the bloodstream. Depending on high or low hormone levels, it can increase the likelihood of certain behaviours. For example, heightened testosterone is linked to aggressive behavior, high levels of estrogen are linked to happiness, and high oxytocin levels are linked to love and bonding. Testosterone, estrogen, and oxytocin are the hormones this essay will be focusing on and how they affect behavior. Biological psychology is often overlooked when it comes to assessing behavior, and as human beings, we don’t want to believe that biology is responsible for our behavior because that means we have no control over it.
Oxytocin is produced by the hypothalamus (primarily during sexual intercourse and childbirth) and is secreted by the pituitary gland. Oxytocin plays different roles within women and men. It plays a crucial role in childbirth; it signals contractions during labor by stimulating the uterine muscles to begin the contractions and is also used as a drug (called synthetic oxytocin) to induce women into labor, it also helps move labor along by producing prostaglandins that help labor progress and move along. Oxytocin has a less important role in men; it helps with male reproduction by moving sperm and affects the production of testosterone in the testicles. Oxytocin is nicknamed ‘the love hormone’ and triggers the bond between mother and baby. Many studies done on animals have shown that oxytocin is of crucial importance for understanding mother-infant relationships; the study was a systematic search of three databases and other sources for published research studies that studied oxytocin and mother-infant relations. Oxytocin that was inserted into the bloodstream by nasal spray has also been proven to increase personality traits such as trust, selflessness, warmth, and openness in social situations. Because of the studies supporting that oxytocin increases positive behaviors, it has been suggested to use oxytocin as psychiatric therapy to treat social phobia, autism, and postpartum depression. This makes sense as oxytocin increases people’s behavior in social situations, and people with autism and social phobia tend to struggle in social situations. High and low levels of oxytocin are both possible but affect both men and women differently. There has not been much research done studying the implications of too much or too little oxytocin. High levels of oxytocin in men have previously been linked to benign prostatic hyperplasia, a condition that affects over 50% of men over the age of 50 that affects the prostate and can cause difficulty in passing urine. Low oxytocin levels in women prevent a mother from being able to breastfeed, as there would be a stunt in milk ejection. Low oxytocin levels have also been linked to autism, Asperger's syndrome, and depression. Some psychologists believe that oxytocin could be used to treat mental illness, but there has not been enough research done.
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Estrogen is known as ‘the female hormone’ and is responsible for the sexual development of girls when they reach puberty. The correlation between estrogen and emotion was first studied over a hundred years ago. Estrogen is very dominant in controlling emotions and emotional behavior, especially in women. Self-rated depression scores among women who have had their ovaries removed were massively decreased when they were given estrogen, this instigates that estrogen improves mood and emotional feelings. 95% of women who have fluctuated estrogen levels suffer from reoccurring psychosis and an extreme increase in negative emotions. The studies discussed suggest that stable, high levels of estrogen in women improve emotional state and mood, and therefore the overall quality of life. But there are also studies that suggest that high estrogen levels can cause weight gain around the hips, low sex drive, depression, and anxiety. Low levels of estrogen in women can cause depression, headaches, vaginal dryness (causes pain during sex), mood swings, a decrease in bone density, breast tenderness, and absent/irregular periods. Because a lack of estrogen in women can cause many problems, estrogen therapy can be administered orally, vaginally, or via injection. Ovaries stop producing estrogen when a woman starts menopause, and the symptoms can be treated through estrogen therapy as mentioned. Men also produce estrogen which is secreted by the adrenal glands and testicles. High levels of estrogen in men can cause infertility because estrogen lessens the concentration in sperm. Estrogen also causes gynecomastia, which is an overgrowth of breast tissue, and male breasts appear larger than the average male chest would. Estrogen can also cause erectile dysfunction, stunted/slowed growth in height and penis length, extreme fatigue, and intense mood swings. Because high levels of estrogen in men aren’t as positive as they are in women, there are several aromatase inhibitors available, which are medication that prevents the enzyme from converting androgens into estrogen, such as anastrozole, exemestane, letrozole. High levels of estrogen in men can cause chronic depression, men have been recorded saying that their self-esteem levels decrease massively because of the way they look, and they claim to feel ‘less of a man’ or a ‘poor example of a man’. High estrogen can be treated by changing diet, losing weight, and in more drastic situations, doctors can prescribe medication that reduces estrogen levels.
Testosterone is widely known as the ‘male hormone’ and the ‘aggression hormone’. Women produce testosterone from their ovaries and adrenal glands, but in much smaller doses. Signals from the brain to the pituitary gland control the production of testosterone, the pituitary gland then relays the signal to the testicles to produce the testosterone, and if the testosterone levels are too high, the brain reduces the signals of production. Testosterone is primarily responsible (in men) for the development of the testicles and penis, the deepening of the voice, the development of facial and pubic hair (also linked to balding in later life), muscle size and strength, libido, and the production of sperm. Research done by Dabbs discovered that violent criminals, aggressive boys, and military offenders all had higher-than-average levels of testosterone. Testosterone is important for ovarian function and the libido within women. Abnormally high testosterone in men can cause heart muscle damage which causes an increased risk of a heart attack, increased muscle mass, acne, overly aggressive behavior, and intense mood swings. Low testosterone levels in men cause loss of muscle mass, a low libido, small testicles and penis, and a low sperm count. Like any other hormone, testosterone has a different effect on women. High testosterone levels in women can cause polycystic ovary syndrome, deepening of the voice, reduced fertility, facial hair, decreased breast size, and weight gain. Women who can’t produce testosterone or don’t produce enough testosterone can suffer from poor bone strength and depression, and have a low libido. This instigates that high levels of testosterone are responsible for an overpowering sex drive. There is treatment available for both low levels of testosterone and high levels of testosterone. To treat low testosterone levels, there is testosterone replacement, which is used to treat symptoms of low testosterone levels and is often used to treat osteoporosis because it strengthens bones and improves bone density. If someone is suffering from too much testosterone, there is a medication called spironolactone which blocks the actions of male sex hormones. Criminologist John Archer published an article after doing first-hand research in a prison that states that violent prisoners show higher testosterone levels than prisoners who are in prison for non-violent crimes. Testosterone and aggression have been researched as far back as the early 1900s. Edwards (1968) gave testosterone to newborn female mice and this resulted in them acting with an abnormal amount of aggression compared to the adult female mice given testosterone.
If there is more understanding of the implications of having too much or too little of a certain hormone, then there will be more understanding of why people might behave the way they do. After considering the research, it seems that estrogen is responsible for emotional behavior and emotional states, testosterone seems to be responsible for aggressive and sexual behavior and oxytocin seems to be responsible for love and bonding behavior. The three behaviors linked with this hormone are on different ends of the spectrum: estrogen and oxytocin are responsible for emotion/bonding/love, whereas testosterone is responsible for a completely different behavior, aggression. These hormones affect men and women in different ways as stated. Hormones do not count for 100% of human behavior, otherwise, the nature vs nurture debate is irrelevant.
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