SACRAMENTO - Men sometimes make the claim to women, "I'm not meant to raise kids." Well, a recent study by Northwestern University suggests the opposite; that men are actually wired to nurture.
Anthropologists at the Northwestern tested 600 men in the Philippines prior to marriage and then again after marriage and during fatherhood. Men with newborns showed a 34-percent drop in testosterone levels compared to when they were single.
The findings suggest that men have evolved from the caveman days and like women, are more naturally inclined to care for kids.
This may come as a real shocker to dads who still share beers with their buddies, play fantasy football, and have not yet traded in the sports car for the mini-van.
Gorillas were also studied to investigate the effects of fatherhood on testosterone levels. When a father gorilla sniffed the scent of his own babies, but not strange babies, his testosterone dropped within minutes. This could be a way of lowering aggressive behavior gorillas to prevent them getting rowdy and posing dangers to their offspring. In birds, a drop in testosterone also correlated with lower aggression, altered territorial behavior and more time spent with chicks.
When News10 went to the Sacramento Zoo and showed the study to new dads, they said they did not notice any changes in their behavior or testosterone after they became fathers. Some of their wives didn't see a change either.
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