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Heroes, Rogues, and Lovers: Testosterone and Behavior
by James McBride Dabbs, Mary Godwin Dabbs
Product Group: Book
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies (2000-07-25)
ISBN: 0071357394
EAN: 9780071357395
UPC: 639785320364
Dewy Decimal #: 612.61
Hardcover: 256 pages
SKU: SA08053007
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: Exactly as shown, Ex Library copy with usual stamps and stickers. Clear, protective mylar covering over dust jacket. Book itself is bound strong, has little wear and text is clean and unmarked.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Since the early 1970s, when studies of testosterone first gained wide public attention, this principal male sex hormone has taken the rap for a range of characteristics or behaviors, including low intelligence, rape, and road rage. The truth is both remarkably more complex and more interesting scientifically. From prehistory to the present, testosterone has played a significant role in the development of human society as well as in romantic, marital, and parental relationships. It affects women as well as men in such areas as language ability, cognition, and spatial orientation. Interweaving intimate case histories with first hand scientific research, Heroes, Rogues and Lovers engagingly explains the animal within us all, revealing testosterone's function in human evolution and its role in surprising links between animal and human behaviors.
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Amazon.com Review
To understand how life works, you must understand testosterone. This male hormone--which is present in both men and women--determines who leads society and how it is led; the professions we choose, and in some cases, how well we do in them; and in some cases how long we live--after all, the high-testosterone guy tends to be a risk-taker. Author James Dabbs, a social psychologist, has been studying testosterone for decades at Georgia State University, and many of the studies coming out of his lab have made headlines. To pick just one of dozens of examples, he and his colleagues found that high-testosterone soldiers were more likely to get in trouble with the law, use drugs and alcohol, and have 10 or more sex partners in a year. The more testosterone one has, the more wild oats one feels compelled to sow. Of course, testosterone isn't a static thing; it rises with feelings of victory and accomplishment and crashes with feelings of defeat. Dabbs takes us through the world of testosterone--from the basic chemistry to how it affects love, work, and society--and makes it literate, erudite, and outrageously entertaining. Snippets of Shakespeare are used to make a point alongside stories of high-testosterone female prisoners. Men will find Heroes, Rogues, and Lovers a glorious explanation of their hormonal core, while women can use it to understand the men in their lives, and even themselves--after all, testosterone increases libido in geese as well as ganders. --Lou Schuler
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Customer Reviews
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Fun speculations: not science
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-08-05
This is a variety of popular book which bugs the bejeebers out of me. A book which claims to be based on scientific research, but which obviously isn't. Sure, the authors were armed with the quasi-scientific tool of saliva tests to confirm their prejudices. They don't really point out how meaningless this test is. They don't point out the relationship of saliva testosterone levels to blood testosterone to free (as opposed to SHBG bound testosterone). Nor do they sufficiently emphasize that other hormones which are associated with high testosterone also have rules to play in behavior: for example, high estradiol is often associated with aggressive or violent behavior, and high estradiol is often associated with very high testosterone levels, via the action of the aromatase enzyme (especially in fat people, for what it is worth). Nor do they point out obvious things like that the known decline in western male testosterone levels is probably due to their giving up nicotine, which has strong anti-aromatase and anti-estrogen properties. Sure, they amassed a vast bibliography of research which backs up their basic thesis. That doesn't really make it science. That makes it some speculation based on stuff which might be science. The general public can't make the distinction, so they often uncritically believe stuff like this, or, say, the "science" in the livescience website. Since I consider myself a real scientist, I find this pretty annoying.
That said, this is an amusing book to wonder at the influences of sex hormones on behavior. As a recreational weight lifter, risk taker and former resident of Boston (highest testosterone levels in the nation, according to the authors), testosterone is my favorite hormone. This book thoroughly "gives the devil his due," and I very much enjoyed reading it and having my prejudices confirmed. It's the type of quasi-science book to chuckle at in the gym, the bathroom, or on a long airplane ride. While I would have liked a more digression filled and scientific book, they keep pretty solidly on their basic theme, which probably makes for easier reading. Good solid fun.
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Credibility Issue
Rating  (2)
Date: 2007-08-20
This book is a mixed bag of facts and conjecture. The parts of the book that are most unappealing and lack scientific merit are the author's use of his friends, family and fictional characters to explain the impact of testosterone on behavior. Dabbs' continuous reference to his and his students' testosterone studies without disclosing details and whether any scientific peer reviews were published or conducted calls into question the credibility of his book. It seems as if he and his students set out to prove their hypotheses by doing little more than soliciting spit tests and celebrating the results.
For much of the book, Dabbs opines negatively of high testosterone men. High testosterone has lost its place in modern society, he argues. More successful and educated white color workers have lower testosterone levels than less educated, lower income but higher testosterone blue color workers. Towards the end, however, he raises the specter of channeling the effects of this powerful hormone to positive outcomes such as altruism and heroism. Proper upbringing and social activities can curb the negative tendencies of high testosterone individuals.
In the epilogue, Dabbs admits to the complexity of nature vs. nature analytics and the extent to which testosterone influences behavior. But certain assertions are "clearly established" he claims: Testosterone increases muscle strength, sexual activity, delinquency and marital instability. Other connections, which he claims are less certain include occupation choice, e.g. actors and athletes have high testosterone levels, sex differences, e.g. women maintain lasting relationships while men drop strong loyalties when they change jobs or sports teams, and the nature of heroism and altruism. This is the area the author dabbles in the most, and unfortunately, because of the lack of depth, Dabbs' arguments are not presented in a convincing or thoughtful way.
Robert M. Sapolskly accomplishes in one chapter of his book "The Trouble With Tetosterone" more than Dabbs' entire book.
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Here's To Life's Rambunctious People!
Rating  (3)
Date: 2006-09-22
0 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
First, let us explore what exactly is a hero. My first and lasting hero since early childhood has been Douglas MacArthur, mainly for his stubborness and his ability to do as he said he would. I appreciate those who keep their words, as I try to do. I follow through if I say I will do something. I always wondered why he would say "I Will Return" to the people of the Phillippines when President Truman forced him to come back to the United States during WWII. He was given hero status with a ticker-tape parade down Broadway in New York City. In this book, I am able to finally learn that in the Phillippines, he was President Quezon's military adviser. How, being a great general for and from America, could he hold this post simultaneously. As we live and learn, we find that even our heroes of a lifetime are only men with feet of clay. I had another (different type completely) hero for six years who showed his true colors by telling lies.
Now to Rogues, we see those in the movies, like Captain Kidd, the sailing robbers like those "orphans" in 'Pirates of Penzance,' some movie stars, and most often convicts of all persuasions. All of these people are maimed by an overabundance of testosterone. Even some women have high terosterone and just aren't very feminine, examples such as Joan of Arc, Queen Victoria, Doris Day, and mothers of sons. Beauty queens like Miss America are not as intelligent and most always have daughters.
What's wrong with rambunctious women? Many women are braver than some men, as they are cowards. Men has less verbal ability than women and hold things in, resulting in violent acts. Verbal ability is part of an evolutionary package which emphasizes abstract thought and imagination. Some male novelists have more imagination, that's for sure, but women have greater verbal intelligence. More men have the "selfish" gene instead of self-confidence. I like a man who knows who is is, outside and inside.
This book uses too much textbook analysis to prove their points. The mind, the brain, thermostat, all used to try to explain the sexual attraction by humans. It is not set in stone -- it depends entirely on the individuals involved. Hawaii is the best place to go for sexual partners because of the beauty, heat, and lack of clothes they enjoy. Good, sensible women want sexy men who are sensitive and reliable, a fleeting species.
Birds of a feather stick together like peacocks. Similar people are attracted to each other. They use other species like birds, fish, animals -- nothing is omitted (ancient tribes and warriors) for the natural selection to work during the seasons of love. We inherit our tesosterone level, just as we inherit our height, body build, eye color and other characteristics. It helps the body to build muscle, make new red blood cells, "release neurotransmitters in the brain where it exerts a powerful influence on our perceptions of ourselves and the world around us." Our choice of marriageable members of the opposite sex is not random; it is destined for procreation. We can love many men we don't want to marry; love is different from sex.
Those individuals who have high testosterone include circus performers, flamboyant showmen, and colorful people like the Kennedy clan, according to this book. I've seen my share of those pushy people, and they turn me off from the beginning. I prefer sensitive, musical people who are smart enough to know when to come in out of the rain.
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Could have been much shorter
Rating (2)
Date: 2004-10-31
2 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
The author strings together a well researched cache of interesting anecdotes which do a great job a grabbing your attention and illustrating the point. However, he never goes into any of the bio-chemistry of how it all works. So, I guess its more of a sociology oriented book. But it never realy goes anywhere.
Factoids like "men with high testoterone are more aggressive, and more likely to beat their wives etc. etc." didn't give me much to chew on. I did enjoy the statistic that shows that high level corporate types who have successfully clawed their way to the top are not necessarily high in testosterone, though they might think they are... (they actually "relationship" their way up -- which should be good news for women execs). I thought about the execs I know and laughed.
Ah well.
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Wit, Wisdom, and Empiricical Research!
Rating (2)
Date: 2002-03-20
0 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
Heroes, Rogues, and Lovers is a terrific book for those who attempt to stay current with contemporary research within the biological and psychological sciences. Dabbs research provides empirical support for the link between testosterone levels and behavior. Not only is the evidence compelling within this well-written book, but it is funny, witty and reads like a fireplace novel with the inclusion of stories of spit tests gone awry and colorful descriptions of subjects for whom the "spit test" was administered. Worth every penny spent and every minute read!
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