For this assignment, listen to the Prologue, Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3 of the This American Life episode #220 called Testosterone. If you have a smartphone or tablet, the easiest way to listen to this, and all the other radio shows for the class, is to download the This American Life app. Once you have the app you can quickly find shows (by title or episode number) and listen right then and there. You can also go to the website www.thisamericanlife.org and search on episode number. I've found it for you here: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/220/testosterone click on launch player and listen to the show.
What did you learn about the extent to which human thought and behavior is governed by hormones? Were you surprised? Reflect on how your own behavior may be dictated by hormonal influences.
Provide the psychology terms you used in your response at the bottom of your comment.
In the Act One section of the interviews, I discovered how influential testosterone can be in regards to the functioning of the human body. I mean, of course I was aware that a huge driving force in our personalities and everyday daily activities was the guidance that hormones provide our minds and bodies, but I never thought that the complete lack of testosterone could so dramatically affect a person’s personality. It makes one wonder if the effect of testosterone on the interviewee in the first act would be similar to the effect on women if estrogen were taken out of their systems. Certainly it doesn’t regulate or influence behavior in the same way, but surely the effects would be noticeable. Although, I’m not particularly willing to subject anyone to any such experiment simply for the sake of curiosity. I was certainly surprised that testosterone had such a profound effect on the man in Act One. I would have expected a lack of aggression or sexual drive, but definitely not an enormous and complete drop off of interest in every aspect of life. In act two, I was also surprised by the fact that testosterone so wholly and completely took over Griffin’s personality. He went from a feminist at a women’s college, to someone who had to relearn how to speak and act around women, despite formerly being a woman himself.
I don’t know that I can reflect personally on how hormones may affect me, because how would one go about isolating which parts of their personalities and interests are due to the effects of hormones and which are caused by development, instinct, or environment? It’s impossible to distinguish what hormones affect in the human body, at least not without some vastly advanced piece of medical equipment or some complicated medical experiment and procedure. I’d like to think that I have a distinctly unique personality, one that I have created by myself through experiences, and learning, rather than one component of my genetic makeup. I have to say, if I were to find out that the only reason I like to read, or swim, or wear my hair in a ponytail is due to estrogen, and nothing else, I’d probably feel a little disconcerted and a little sad. Everything I am would be compromised due to one inkling of knowledge.
If I had to guess what parts of my life were most influenced by hormones, I would probably say my interactions with others (and this is based on nothing but pure conjecture and no data whatsoever) because I always think of hormones contributing to how I interact with other people. For instance, I behave more sarcastically around guys than I do girls, and I think it’s because I’m really bad at talking to men, and I always have been. On the other side of the spectrum, I am usually a lot louder and enthusiastic around girls, simply because I’m more confident around them. Just ask my hall mates. I have a tendency to shout when excited. These traits are what come to mind when I think about the effects of hormones.
estrogen
behavior
testosterone
development
instinct
environment
This assignment was very interesting to me as testosterone is something that is so stereotyped in today’s society. I learned so many things that completely broke my previous thoughts about testosterone and its effect on personality, thought and behavior. Looking at both instances of no testosterone and intensely high testosterone gave an interesting way to study the effects that testosterone have. In the man who lost all testosterone because of a medical procedure, it was easy to tell that testosterone has a major effect on one’s personality and behaviors. This man cited that he didn’t think about anything, had no desires to do anything or eat anything, had no interest or disinterest, and saw everything very literally. I see now how testosterone causes desires, and not just in a sexual nature. In my opinion, life without testosterone would be very lackluster and boring. However, the man also cited that he saw things as “beautiful” even if this beauty was without passion. He said that he believed he could see things completely objectively. Perhaps this is because testosterone clouds our thoughts with wants and emotions and the lack of testosterone allows us to see things for the way things are. This can definitely be seen in Griffin who received high levels of testosterone to become a man. He cited not being able to control his actions and having his thoughts clouded by lustful thoughts all the time. This was particularly interesting to me because Griffin had to learn to control this and had a difficult time doing so. Even though he used to be a woman and knew that his thoughts and actions were inappropriate, he was seemingly completely unable to control these impulses. This adds a completely different view to the whole “can boys control their impulses around girls” debate. I was very surprised that it seemed like testosterone is the cause of many of the stereotypes we have about males and females in today’s society. Perhaps not all of these stereotypes are really socially constructed; perhaps they are actually caused by testosterone. For instance, Griffin found that his testosterone made him more sexually aggressive and unable to cry. These are two actions frequently associated with males but also often attributed to social construction.
This series definitely got me thinking about how much my testosterone level controls who I am and how I react to certain situations. Because there are so many different factors that go into one’s personality, I wasn’t really able to come up with any opinion on whether or not I had high or low testosterone levels. I do see the effect of testosterone and hormones in my behavior though when my behavior becomes more emotional. There are times that I have the impulse to cry, like Griffin mentioned, to make myself feel better or for no reason at all. I suppose this is associated with a lower testosterone level seen in females more than males. I have also noticed hormone levels affecting my level of agitation or anger as well. It is more difficult for me to pick out how testosterone might affect my likes, dislikes, and other personality traits. I would be interested to read more on how testosterone affects personality just as much as it affects biological drives.
Vocabulary: testosterone, behavior, impulse, hormone
I didn't think I would like this assignment because I've never listened to a radio show before so I thought it would end up being somewhat mundane. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself interested in it. The prologue began by giving a background of the idea for the show. One of the speakers of the show had found a book and was quite taken aback by what it discussed and how it had related to himself as a young, pre-pubescent boy. He could see himself becoming like the men in which the author-who was quite a feminist saying things like, "you think I hate men, I do"-was describing. He began to realize that testosterone might be something in the body giving instructions that probably shouldn't be followed. The next few acts to follow then discussed the effects of testosterone on the lives of different people.
The first act described the hormone of testosterone as one of desire, not necessarily always sexual in nature. In a GQ magazine article, a man wrote about his experience with a complete loss of that hormone. He described this loss as one of not only chemical, but also as the spiritual loss of his soul in a sense. He found himself sitting in bed for hours just staring at a wall. He didn't feel interested in things, or disinterested necessarily. He looked at things with simple observations and described everything as "beautiful". While this may not seem like a bad thing, in my opinion it can be. I think that looking at everything with one view and seeing no differences would be, quite frankly, boring. While I think this type of life would be boring, he described it as weirdly pleasant and alluring. This act is an example of how hormones can affect the behavior of people and change who they are. Before this medical deficit, this man had no problem in his life, however afterward he felt an identity crisis was occurring. He no longer felt like himself which changed his thought process.
While in act one the man had a lack of testosterone, the man in the second act had an abundance that was injected into him. Griffin decided to change his identity from female to male which was done by the testosterone injections. The injections were two to three times the normal amount of a man which also overpowered his formerly estrogen-high hormone levels. Griffin began to see and feel immense changes in his personality, thoughts, and behaviors. He even stated that cars and Xerox machines would make him feel very erotic. He looked at women with more sexual desire than ever before and could not seem to help. He felt like a pig because he could not stop it from happening. He knew what it was like to be a woman and did not want to take part in these new thoughts and behaviors. He also said it gave him a better understanding of men and adolescent boys. The life change was an eye-opening experience to gain insight on how different hormone levels can affect a person. Toward the end of the act, Griffin spoke of becoming more interested in science than ever before, and also having a hard time crying. As much as I hate to say it, it goes to show that maybe the stereotypes do have at least SOME truth to them.
While I can see how hormones affect the thoughts and behaviors of people every day, I think it can be difficult to see how it has an impact on my life, personally. If I look at it from a stereotypical perspective, I would have to say that I may have more testosterone than the average female to be honest. I don't find myself crying or getting emotional very often. I tend to be aggressive just as Julie from the radio show.
Vocabulary Terms: testosterone, hormone, pre-pubescent, behavior, estrogen, adolescence
At the very beginning of the radio show I was a little startled and confused but once Act One started I began to be very intrigued. I found it extremely interesting at the amount of things testosterone really does affect and possibly effects. For example, in Act One when the person that lived without testosterone was being interviewed I found his lack of interest and want extremely fascinating. I knew that testosterone was connected to more things than just sex drive but I had no clue that it lead to that big of a difference in a person’s personality. This got me thinking about the chapter that we read and what part of the brain would be most affected from this drastic chemical change. I decided that is might be the hypothalamus based on the information stating the hypothalamus is usually related to important motivational processes such as eating, drinking, and sexual behavior.
As I thought about this I listened on into Act Two. I found Griffin Hansbury’s story about how he became a man to be very interesting. When he shared that he had a testosterone level of twice that of a normal man was mind blowing to me. I had no idea that people went through this and how much it affected their thoughts and actions. In the radio show, Griffin continued to talk about how his mindset and mannerisms changed after even his first dose of testosterone. Along with the three different parts of the brain that may have been affected in the man with no testosterones body there seemed to be even more effected by the high levels of testosterone in Griffin Hansbury’s body. It was surprising to me at the level of mindset change that occurred as Griffin changed. Like I had said earlier, I knew that testosterone was linked somehow to mindset but I had no idea that is affected this drastically.
After finishing Act Two, listening to Act Three was surprising yet again. I found the different staff members’ testosterone results very interesting based on how their coworkers described them. By this I mean that when Julie’s coworkers described her they said that she was bossy, decisive, and somewhat aggressive. As the results showed, Julie had the highest testosterone of the women and some of the men. This really made me think about the attributes that might be attributed to different hormones and how those show up in our personalities.
As far as my behavior goes with my hormones, I believe that the areas in which my hormones have a bigger effect on my behavior than normal would be around others whether girls or boys. In past interactions I would say I get along better with guys than girls. I find guys a lot easier to talk to than girls. With this knowledge I would guess I have a higher level of testosterone than some girls, however, when I get emotional, like Griffin was saying, it does often help me to feel better if I cry. With this, I don’t know where I would probably land on the testosterone scale. It is something that is really interesting to think about.
Vocabulary: testosterone, hypothalamus, personalities, behavior, hormones
In the Act One interviews it was stated that, “Life without testosterone is considered life without desire.” and that, “People who are deprived of testosterone become nonsensical.” The prologue begins by giving a background of the idea for the show. One of the speakers of the show had found a book from back in the 70’s, what it discussed, and how it related to himself as a young boy. He realized testosterone was something that should not be followed by the body.
I found it interesting how testosterone can affect the human body and how the stereotypes that play out about men seem to have more to do with testosterone than anything else. But I also think estrogen can play the same amount as testosterone seeing as both males and females carry estrogen and testosterone. I remember when my grandmother first went into menopause her estrogen and testosterone levels decreased drastically which caused her to have mood swings so I can see how it changes a person.
I found it surprising how much had changed as the two people talked about testosterone and its affect on this show. In the man who lost all his testosterone because of a medical procedure, he said he had no desires for anything, had no interests, and saw everything very literally. I know now that testosterone causes desires, and is not just about sexual desire. However, the man also said that he saw things as ‘beautiful’ even if this beauty was without passion. He said he could see things completely objectively. Something they should have taken into account was age, the younger the male the more testosterone, the older the female the more testosterone. It seems that this was not stated and some seemed older, but you could not really tell for sure.
One thing I do have to agree with Alex Blumberg and Ira Glass though is that you really should not do a testosterone testing with your coworkers or your friends. Not only does it make some people uncomfortable but no one needs to know that about you. These are the people you have to work with. Would you really want them to know this or for you to know their testosterone numbers? Because I would not. I do not need to know that much information about the people that I work with now or in the future.
This radio show definitely go me thinking about how much my testosterone level controls who I am and how I must react to different situations. I do see the effect of testosterone and hormones that affect my behavior though at times it can become more emotional than normal. There are times I feel the urge to scream to let off steam or stress. I have also noticed hormone levels can often cause my temper to rise or for me to PMS. It is kind of difficult to pick out certain kinds of things that might affect me based on testosterone. I would be interested to read more on this subject, just getting to know more about how testosterone affects personality.
Terms: testosterone, estrogen
Reflecting on the stories that I heard in this podcast, I am slightly shaken. To hear that my identity might be completely dependent on chemicals and not who I really “am” is an unsettling thought. Testosterone, or the lack of it, can change your entire outlook on the world. Testosterone effects drive and motivation. Hearing the words used to describe life without testosterone made the world sound so subjective and there’s something interesting in that but its not a way I would want to live. On the opposite end of the spectrum, hearing about the experience of suddenly having to deal with higher levels of testosterone was eye opening. The person speaking described daily life as a man that I deal with every day and I could identify with nearly every story told but I never thought that all of those experiences were dependent on my hormone levels. I’m interested and scared by the fact that who I am may not be special to me but rather a byproduct of the juices flowing around in my brain. I wonder how many of my daily activities or thoughts may be structured by my chemical make-up. Maybe I’m missing things in my everyday life. Perhaps the things I see in the world, aren’t truly as I see them but I may never know the difference. Perhaps my hormonal concoction has held me back from appreciation of certain art forms, interests or hobbies, or even people. I don’t enjoy entertaining that thought but I guess there isn’t much I can do to change it except maybe trying to acknowledge when certain thoughts enter my head that might be caused by my hormones.
Testosterone, identity, hormones,
I thought this radio show and its discussion was very interesting and very insightful on an area of life that I never really think twice about. I have always thought of myself and my personality as “me” and I have never given much, if any, thought about why I am the way I am. Sometimes I venture a guess that maybe I react certain ways to specific situations because my mom does, so I must have gotten that from my mom, or maybe I tend to be more docile and shy because that’s how my dad is. I never once gave thought to that’s how I am because of hormones. I admit I have really fallen victim to several media-induced misconceptions on how hormones affect men and women, and particularly how testosterone affects men. It’s always said that the more testosterone a man has the more muscular he will be, the tougher he is, deeper voice, more chest hair, all those ridiculous stereotypes. So it really came as a shock to me to learn that in the third act, leading up to revealing who on the staff had the most testosterone, that this hormone is more directly linked to baldness, and not necessarily an aggressive personality but instead one of performance, or confidence. My shock was heightened when it was revealed that the male member of the staff that had the most testosterone was the gay, more feminine perceived man. Granted he was bald and had once been a professional actor, everything else about his personality screamed possibly estrogen instead of testosterone. Yet that was proved to be false. This idea kind of emphasizes that while hormones do a lot inside of our bodies, chemically, they don’t always show up physically. On opposite example of this would be the guest, Griffin, who explained how, once he began the transition from female to male, the testosterone he was taking not only changed him inside, chemically, but it produced physical response in his personality as well. Now, this could very well be swayed by the fact that he was taking such large amounts of testosterone, but it still provides an interesting point. Things that once bothered him as a woman, such as being checked out because of the clothes she was wearing, he found he could not stop himself from engaging in once he was a man. Even though he knew that these were not good behaviors, and it would not be something he would on his own decide to do, it was like he was chemically forced to think these thoughts. Despite his own personal beliefs, the testosterone inside of him also had its way of controlling his body. So this then argues that hormones have a role in our personality not just chemically, but in ways that is obvious to the person as well. This made me think back to myself and how I can see estrogen and testosterone my affect my behavior and personality. Maybe I am really docile and shy because I have either a lack of testosterone that would make me more confident and bold, or that part of my personality is more controlled by estrogen. The thought that I could possibly be a completely different person if my hormones were changed drastically is kind of a scary thought, and maybe I’m not as “me” as I thought I was.
Terms: testosterone, estrogen
I found the topic of testosterone and the effects it has on people to be very interesting. While listening to radio talk show hosts isn’t the most interesting nor easiest, I found it best to follow along with the transcript provided; it helped me better understand what was being said. To begin with I admired their way of speaking about the topic of testosterone because the listeners didn’t just get one view on topic but they were able to hear about people with low and high testosterone levels. Before listening to this radio episode, I had come in with some basic understanding of testosterone in general such as women have testosterone in their bodies and that men obviously have a higher testosterone level than women. I thought that testosterone is what made men manly and less fearful but as I learned these are misconceptions.
The first act made me think of the lack of testosterone as like a drug because the man who experienced life without testosterone seemed to be like really relaxed and just thinking about essentially nothing. He mentioned being able to sit on his bed for hours having no interests. I can’t imagine what it would be like to live life with no desire. I have never heard of someone who has had no testosterone much less know the life they live. It certainly would be interesting to experience it one time just to see what it would be to have the world pass you by as you sit there mindlessly thinking about the beauty in everyday objects. I wonder if he ever experienced any sort of stress or other emotion while not having testosterone. How did he see the beauty in humans? Was he more reluctant to feel empathy rather than anger? Also what would cause someone to live without testosterone?
In act two, I realized that men have a lot of testosterone especially the man whose story was told. When he said that they gave him twice the amount of testosterone as man has, I instantly felt pain. I didn’t even know that it was possible to receive such a high dose. With his past I wouldn’t think it would be hard to learn how to talk to women because he once was one but I think that it is much harder than it sounds. I would have never guessed that women found him to be prejudice against women but they did because they were ignorant of his past. When I was hearing him speak about how it was to cry, it made me relate to his issue in my own personal way. About a year ago or so, I wasn’t feeling right so my mother made me visit the doctor and long story short, I found out that my hormone levels were all wacky which made experience some health issues. The doctor said it may have been due to my stress but there could have been other factors. They told me that my testosterone levels were higher than most average women so they prescribed me medications to help control these levels. I can recall prior to visiting the doctor, that I had a hard time crying or being emotional just like the man being interviewed. I remember being furious that I couldn’t just sit there and cry like I used to be able to do and let my emotions spill out. Despite my irregular hormone levels, I didn’t experience any other abnormalities like he did.
Vocabulary: Testosterone, hormones
Often on road trips, my family will listen to NPR, and This American Life is one of our favorite shows. That being said, every time I listen to the stories in an episode, I get so wrapped up in them because the subject material is usually fascinating, and there are almost always firsthand accounts of interesting things that you didn’t even know you wanted to learn about! I’ve never really given testosterone that much thought; I just kind of assumed the usual stereotype of it being the male sex hormone was an accurate summary. I didn’t realize all of the other essential things it controlled. I never knew that the desire caused by testosterone was more than just the sex drive. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to have no motivation or desire to do anything, ever. I get bored really easily and have trouble sitting still for long periods of time, and the way he described staring at a wall for several hours with “neither interest nor disinterest” seemed impossible to me. If I stared at something for that long, I would probably go insane, even if I spaced out and was thinking of other things.
I was also fascinated by the interview with Griffin Hansbury in Act 2. The most surprising thing to me was the libido that Griffin gained with his large amounts of testosterone. I mean, I can appreciate a nice car as much as the next person, but by no means have I ever been turned on by one. It made me think a lot about how people get so angry over dress codes and the perpetuation of rape culture. Not that men should use their hormones as an excuse, but on the other hand, I didn’t realize just how strong those hormones could be. As we mentioned in class, however, hormones don’t dominate free will, and the men are ultimately responsible for their actions.
I find it weird to think about how much of me is really me and how much of me is just a bunch of chemicals that give me certain traits. I like to think that my experiences shape me, but maybe it’s how I react to those experiences, and maybe my reactions are governed by a unique balance of brain chemicals. It’s just a really weird concept to consider. Now I can’t help but wonder how much testosterone I have, whether it’s high or low, and how I compare to others (and although I’m not sure I would want to compare testosterone levels with coworkers, family, friends, etc, I don’t see why where would be any reason to be upset over it. I only hold a mild curiosity and I would not be offended if I had more or less testosterone than one of my peers.) I don’t know if I’ll ever truly understand men, but this episode definitely gave me a much better insight not only as to how they operate but also why they may act and react the way they do.
I learned about just how much testosterone does to the average person whether they are male or female. I never knew and was honestly kind of shocked about what all it did to you. I always kind of had the stereotypical impression of testosterone as being a guy hormone that just made guys more hairy and manly and never gave a thought to its other side effects. I never thought about it as the hormone of desire. I kind of saw the changes that Griffin experienced coming and regular but I never thought about what would happen if a man like Alex just didn’t have any at all. His surreal experience was incredibly interesting and I never thought of losing testosterone as not just losing your sex drive, but also any other desire in life as well. I couldn’t imagine living day after day without any drive to at least do something and have literally the busiest thing I do be picking up the groceries. I also thought that it was interesting how much I sympathized with Griffin’s experience of getting all these urges and a sex drive and having to deal with a changing body during his sex change. Honestly when I was younger and I first started hitting puberty, I gained a bad sex drive and I didn’t act on it but it was still there and honestly at times I felt like a monster as well. I think that this shows a lot of how boys feel while they go through years of puberty, only he went through it in a few months.
What surprised me about Alex’s whole story that he gave was the fact that his mind saw everything objectively and thought of it all as beautiful. It makes me wonder if his perception of beautiful at that time was the same ass our normal perception of beautiful. I thought it was interesting that he described it as almost looking at it like God would from a superficial and objective standpoint. I was also surprised at Alex’s comment about it being weirdly pleasant and that no want made for no pain of not having it. I feel like there is something really deep in this statement that I can’t really grasp.
I feel like especially when I was younger, I was very controlled by my emotions and the hormones in my body. when I got testosterone and went through puberty, I started see the world differently and I feel like there became more gray area in how I thought. I questioned myself a lot in what I would do and how I should act. I also think that hormones are present in my social interactions with girls and guys alike. in situations with girls I feel like I may act a little more differently and that probably has to do with different hormones at work at different times. I also feel like when I get emotional, angry or upset, my hormones tend to kick it or lessen depending on the hormone and I think they strongly affect how I feel about myself and others in general.
Terms:
Hormones
Testosterone
behavior
puberty
sex drive
Wow this video was so insanely eye-opening for me! I had no idea that a hormone like testosterone could have such an effect on someone’s personality. It explained a lot of why boys act the way they do, even though I still don’t get them.
Griffin’s story of how his world completely changed made me realize just how much hormones have an effect on our brains. The way he explained his innate thought process when he saw a woman, how there was no narrative but instead just a pornographic movie, was something I’d never heard or realized that guys did. He couldn’t help it, but just saw everything as erotic, even the copy machine! Testosterone just completely ruled his thought process, and he had to battle it constantly. He did saw that he received about as much testosterone as two linebackers would have, so I imagine his experiences were a little extreme.
The contest in Act III also highlighted the effects testosterone has on a person’s actions and personality. They said it increased decisiveness, boldness, and fearlessness, which means someone with more testosterone could proceed with less conflict and be more single-minded. I thought it was interesting that this doesn’t mean that these people are more successful; in fact, they said blue-collar workers have more testosterone than white-collar workers, and unemployed workers have more than both blue and white-collar. Also, I found it intriguing that people with less testosterone have a kinder smile and smile more often, as if, according to the hosts, they’re asking people not to hurt them. I’m not sure if I agree with that. I think people with less testosterone smile more because they are softer and tenderer and are less focused on goals and more focused on people, but that’s just my personal opinion.
The part of the show that most surprised me was Alex’s story in Act I, and how his lack of testosterone didn’t just affect his personality and actions but his entire thought process. Since testosterone is the hormone of drive and desire, he didn’t do or even think about anything. Everything he saw, he thought was beautiful, but not in a passionate way. It was just an objective, automatic response. It made him so lethargic and just unable to distinguish between what was important and what wasn’t. This shocked me the most. The idea of a hormone having that much effect on someone never occurred to me. It makes me wonder what other aspects of my personality are due to my hormones, and I’m not sure how I feel about being ruled by my body processes.