The Truth About Hormones

Women are much better at judging social situations and are more sensitive to facial expressions than men. They worry about how other people are feeling, putting themselves in their shoes (empathizing) and are keen to chat and share intimacy. Men are better at working out how things work (systemizing), be it washing machines, computer programs or armies; they prefer games and gadgets. They may start collecting things – football stats, CDs, beer mats – a hobby which is often a complete mystery to women. At the same time the appeal of watching soaps on TV and the concept of shopping for pleasure is mystifying men. Most men will run a mile before they do the ‘talking about problems’ thing.

The researchers found that the higher the levels of pre-natal testosterone in the amniotic fluid, the less eye contact the toddlers made, and the smaller their vocabulary. These toddlers were seen again when they were four years old. By this time, those children that had had the highest level of prenatal testoerone had lower social skills and more restricted interests than those who had had lower levels of testosterone in their bath of amniotic fluid.

Fetal testosterone clearly affects the brain in some way and therefore influences behaviour for the rest of the baby’s life. In a nutshell, the more you have in the womb, the more of a systemizer you are; the less you have, the more of an empathizer you are. While of course baby boys produce more testosterone, baby girls also produce it, some almost to the levels of the least producing boys.

The mechanism that turns the embryo’s genetic sex into the adult male or female depends on an immensely complex interplay of genetic, psychological, social and, naturally, hormonal factors. The chief hormonal factor is the influence of testosterone in the womb.