Quote from: brainiac on May 05, 2010, 08:50:54 PM
But anyway, I read a paper a while back (I can probably find it if anyone's interested) that looked at aggression in a species of monkey and testosterone and serotonin levels (serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is associated with a lot of things, including mood regulation). It turned out that it wasn't T that made certain male monkeys violent; it was the combination of T and low serotonin levels. The male monkeys with high testosterone and high serotonin were assertive but calm and generally not violent.
So yeah, testosterone doesn't cause aggression. The combination of high testosterone (assertiveness) and low serotonin (more risk-taking, poor executive function, unhappiness) is related to aggression.
I would love to read anything you have found on the subject. But I feel the need to point out that there is a big difference between aggressiveness and violent aggression. (I'm not implying that you are mixing the two up; I just run into a lot of people, particularly trans guys, who do.)
I hate to see aggression getting a bad rap when it can be beneficial. I'm not a doormat anymore, and I like that. I'm more apt to speak my mind, and I like that, too. I'm sexually more aggressive. I'm more apt to challenge someone who I think is wrong, even if I'm not one hundred percent sure. I can't definitively claim that HRT is responsible, but if T really IS making me a bit more aggressive, it's almost all to the good. The rest (controlling my occasional fits of temper, for example) just requires a learning curve, as with just about anything new.
I've had a number of experiences with trans guys who have become very aggressive about claiming that they are not aggressive on T. It's actually comical. I can see that they are behaving aggressively; I can't tell whether there has been an increase. But I think that they automatically equate aggression with violence. My response to them is, "Why knock aggression? What's wrong with a certain degree of aggressiveness? As long as you're not hurting people or being obnoxious, nothing at all."
And now back to our regularly scheduled program...what FTMs hate about freakbags.
Post Merge: May 05, 2010, 08:11:43 PM
Quote from: GothTranzboi on May 05, 2010, 09:50:01 PM
you said it better then I did arch.
Ah, but you're so much more concise.
Post Merge: May 05, 2010, 09:14:47 PM
Quote from: Lachlann on May 05, 2010, 10:09:20 PM
Exact opposite effect for me. Pre-T I had trouble controlling my anger and not acting on it, now I have like 99% control over it.
To be fair, I am considerably older than you are, and I am still working through a lot of my issues. Before I came fully out of the closet, I struggled with knowledge of my transness for about as long as you've been alive. I expect to be much more settled in a year or two, after I've made more progress.
Not to mention that I do have moderate depression, so my serotonin levels could very well be a factor. Brainiac, I hope you can send me a link to that study!!!