Eve is here. A Venn diagram of testosterone over MAHA and what could be considered a parody of Pete Hegseth’s machismo…I can’t even do that. What else would fit?
In addition to stress, other testosterone-lowering factors are watching “your” sports team lose.
On a more serious note, I live in a senior citizen area and recently heard an MD’s presentation on hormone replacement at an expat event, and of course it was almost entirely about testosterone. I was concerned that my doctor rarely mentioned the increased risk of prostate cancer. She pointed out that increased testosterone increases sex drive without improving performance. And there is no mention of male boobs as a possible outcome.
Written by Adam Stanaland, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Richmond. Originally published on The Conversation
When it comes to testosterone levels, how low is too low? When Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced in July 2026 that U.S. military personnel over the age of 30 would undergo annual testosterone testing, neither the U.S. nor the Department of Defense made clear what levels of the hormone would be considered “low” enough to require treatment, a glaring omission since it depends on the lab conducting the test and the guidelines followed by the doctor.
The announcement comes amid a nationwide testosterone boom. The number of prescriptions will rise to nearly 12 million in 2025, an increase of 154% from 2020, with the biggest jump among men in their late 30s to 40s. Online clinics selling testosterone as a lifestyle upgrade are largely responsible for this increase in prescriptions.
As a psychologist who studies masculinity, I’m convinced that while the idea that more testosterone makes men tougher and better suited for fighting seems intuitive, it’s largely false.
Medical guidelines do not recommend bulk testing for testosterone.
Actual function of testosterone
Although testosterone is often thought of as a “male” hormone, both sexes produce different amounts of testosterone.
In cisgender boys and men, testosterone levels increase during puberty and help build muscle, grow body hair, and produce sperm. Levels naturally decline in adulthood, usually after age 30. If your levels drop significantly below normal and you begin to experience symptoms such as extreme fatigue, decreased sex drive, or rapid muscle loss, testosterone replacement therapy may be helpful under your doctor’s supervision.
However, “normal” is a very broad term. Endocrinologists consider testosterone levels between approximately 300 and 1,000 nanograms per deciliter to be healthy. Within that range, a man’s testosterone levels tell us little about the “masculine” traits that some people think it governs.
Testosterone is associated with muscle mass, but in healthy men, testosterone is not linked to actual muscle strength; training, sleep, and nutrition are far more important. As endocrinologist Adrian Dobbs says, a 700-year-old is no stronger or any more human than a 300-year-old.
Additionally, an individual’s testosterone levels are not fixed and can fluctuate over time and season. That’s why doctors usually test your testosterone levels only when symptoms appear. Screening millions of healthy men could potentially be harmful.
The body converts excess testosterone into estrogen. Boghog2/Wikimedia Commons
For example, testosterone therapy often comes with risks. When you supplement with hormones, your body signals it to stop producing its own sources, which can cause testicles to shrink and sperm to be suppressed. Some researchers are studying the contraceptive effects of testosterone.
Additionally, testosterone activates oil glands and hair follicles, converting some of them to estrogen, which can also cause acne, hair loss, and even breast tissue growth.
This “high-T” ideal, sold in online clinics and now endorsed by the upper echelons, ignores these serious risks.
macho myth
Decades of research have debunked Hegseth’s core claim that more testosterone means a more aggressive, dominant and masculine man.
A 2001 analysis of data from 45 studies involving nearly 10,000 people found only a weak correlation between testosterone levels and aggression. In 2020, researchers pooled data from experiments in which testosterone was administered to participants to study whether it causes aggression, and found only weak evidence. In fact, the researchers observed that the effects of testosterone on aggression were primarily manifested in men who were dominant or impulsive.
Boys who feel pressure to be manly learn to react aggressively to perceived threats to their masculinity. Jeff Gritchen/Digital First Media/Orange County Register via Getty Images
Rather, the arrow goes in the opposite direction, and the action increases testosterone levels. One study found that men who handled guns for 15 minutes had larger testosterone spikes and acted more aggressively than men who played board games. Meanwhile, new fathers’ testosterone levels dropped more rapidly the more they cared for their children.
When men exhibit aggression, the trigger is usually social. My own research shows that threatening a man’s sense of masculinity, rather than a woman’s femininity, reliably provokes aggression, and the men who react most strongly are those who feel the most pressure to conform to masculine ideals.
The relationship between aggression and fear of failing as a man is ingrained early on. In a study of more than 200 adolescent boys and their parents, my team and I found that boys who respond aggressively to threats to their masculinity are primarily boys who feel external pressure to be masculine. The pressure was strongest among boys whose parents supported certain beliefs about masculinity, such as the idea that men should hold power over others.
Biology, social pressures, and development work together to determine how a boy develops into a man. Unlike Hegseth’s story that masculinity is a chemical that must end, research shows that while hormones may open a window, the social environment determines what happens.
Military life reduces testosterone levels
Ironically, the hard work of military service can lower testosterone levels in men.
A 2020 study of U.S. Army Rangers found that sleep deprivation built into their training significantly lowered their testosterone levels.
Chronic stress, sleep deprivation, blast exposure, and nutritional deficiencies can lead to a series of health problems called “operator syndrome.” In some cases, a special operator’s working conditions can raise a 35-year-old’s testosterone levels to levels typical of a man in his 80s.
The stress of military life reduces testosterone levels. Alison Joyce/AFP via Getty Images
Notice the loop. The military proposes imposing the very conditions that suppress testosterone and correcting the results by increasing testosterone. Psychologists who have named it operator syndrome have warned that the testosterone that carries the troops will not restore health, as the real causes are sleep, stress and injury.
double standards
In February 2025, the Pentagon halted gender-affirming hormone therapy for transgender soldiers, saying such care was inconsistent with the “readiness” and “lethality” of the force. But prescribing testosterone to conform cisgender men’s bodies to the Department of Defense’s masculine ideals is also hormone therapy.
Legal advocates immediately raised alarm over the discrepancy. The same type of drug can be rebranded as a disqualifier for one group of soldiers, but an optimiser for another.
Therefore, mandating testosterone does not create stronger soldiers. Rather, it reveals anxiety that cannot be solved by hormones. My research argues that the men who are most pressured to provide masculinity are those who most experience masculinity as fragile, treating it as a status that can be lost and must be regained over and over again.
Telling troops that their readiness depends on test results can make men even more anxious. True strength, the ability to survive being shot, is not something that can be replaced with hormones. Testosterone is biologically useful, but it is not the measure of humans or soldiers.
