Hormonal Mechanisms of Partnership Formation

Abstract

Abstract People are motivated to form romantic partnerships, and this motivation is underpinned by biological processes that facilitate sexual drive and mating motives. Gonadal steroid hormones—testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone—regulate many sexual behaviors in humans and nonhuman animals. Testosterone, for example, is positively associated with sexual desire, mate seeking, sexual behavior, and intrasexual competition. Although testosterone seems to be important for sexual processes in men and other male animals, some evidence suggests that testosterone is also important for women. Estrogen and progesterone, on the other hand, seem to be especially important for regulating sexual processes in women and other female animals. These hormones promote cyclical fluctuations in sexual desire and mating-relevant behavior across the menstrual or estrus cycle. Contrary to lay beliefs that female animals are passive in their sexual encounters, research in psychoneuroendocrinology demonstrates the active role of female animals in pursuing and regulating sexual interactions to increase their reproductive success. This chapter thus highlights the hormonal mechanisms that promote partnership formation, clarifies appropriate methodological practices for assessing these mechanisms in humans, and outlines current and future directions for research on contemporary romantic partnerships.