#2 Daddy Play
Fathers that actively parent tend to have lower testosterone levels, report several cross-cultural studies. While it is not known if the hormone levels cause the behavior or vice versa, researchers theorize that evolution has favored involved dads. Human children are among the neediest of the animal kingdom and good dads optimize the chance that their offspring -- and their genes -- survive.
#3 Father to be
The male brain becomes especially primed for cooperation in the months before becoming a father. Fathers-to-be go through hormone changes -- prolactin goes up, testosterone goes down -- which likely encourage paternal behavior, found a 2000 study in Evolution and Human Behavior.
Cool!
ReplyDeleteOn #3, I'm assuming that a father-to-be's hormonal changes really occurs when he is living within close proximity to the mother? While the mere knowledge of knowing that the woman is pregnant with your own child, would (hopefully) make a man start changing to more paternal behavior, I'm thinking for a true hormonal change an existing bond/living situation only bolsters this.
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