McCain Vote Might Mean Low Testosterone Later

What About Women Who Supported McCain

The researchers also included women, although few similar studies have before.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain looks down as he concedes defeat to supporters during...

Republican presidential candidate John McCain looks down as he concedes defeat to supporters during his election night rally at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in this Nov., 2008 file photo in Phoenix, Ariz. A new study shows the testosterone levels of men dropped sharply after the election if they voted for McCain, while the testosterone levels of men who voted for Obama stayed the same.

(Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

"Historically, the study of the biology of dominance and dominance competition has focused on men," said Stanton, a post doctoral fellow, at Duke University. "There is only a handful of studies looking at dominance competition in women, like five or six."

Unlike the men in the study, the women in the testosterone saliva test showed no significant difference in testosterone levels.

Stanton explained that "there is not a good parallel mechanism that would foster that [rise in testosterone] in women," since men produce testosterone quickly in the testes as well as the adrenal glands, but women only produce testosterone in the adrenal glands and in small quantities in the ovaries.

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Stanton says his team plans to publish more research on stress hormones measured during election night 2008 in the future.

"This is evidence showing that social events in our lives do affect our physiology, and it can happen quite quickly," he said.

However, Dr. Abraham Morgentaler author of "Testosterone for Life," said research linking testosterone to moods isn't as solid as doctors would like, and the saliva test for testosterone itself isn't well studied or validated.

"What we have is an association -- it's hard to know what that means for people, did it [testosterone] go down because the men were upset and disappointed, or is it totally unrelated?" asked Morgentaler, who is also an associate clinical professor of urology at Harvard Medical School.

Morgentaler said despite the inability to prove cause and effect in the study, overall doctors are seeing more evidence that testosterone is linked to men's moods.

Stanton added that the drop in testosterone his study mimicked the same hormone fluctuations found in most male mammals after they lose a physical fight.