Health & Science

How men react to political losses; Our growing family of planets; A taste for fizz; A cave of her own; Why won’t that dog stop barking?

How men react to political losses

When John McCain lost the election last November, his male supporters also suffered a blow—to their manliness, a new study found. Several times over the course of Election Night, researchers had a bipartisan group of voters salivate into test tubes. The contents were later analyzed to measure levels of testosterone, the hormone linked to stress, risk-taking, and aggression. The results were striking: Male McCain supporters saw their hormone levels plummet, while Obama backers’ stayed stable. (Women, who have much less testosterone, also maintained stable levels, regardless of party affiliation.) “This is a pretty powerful result,” neuroscientist Kevin LaBar tells ABCnews.com. “Voters are physiologically affected by having their candidates win or lose an election.” The results square with prior research showing that competition affects hormone levels—though in those cases, subjects were direct participants. Researchers say the loser’s testosterone reduction may be a survival mechanism, helping him chill out so he doesn’t press his case and risk injury. “Elections are highly unique dominance contests,” says researcher Steven Stanton—affecting even those who participate merely by watching television.

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