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Mothers' Hormones Turn Girls to Tomboys
2001 June 04 Printer-friendly format Email this article to a friend
By David Derbyshire Science Correspondent
A STUDY has found a clear link between high testosterone levels in a mother's womb and masculine behaviour in girls.
Girls exposed to higher doses of the male hormone were more likely to prefer toy cars to dolls, rough-and-tumble games to dressing up, and mud pies to tea parties.
In compiling a "masculine-feminine" score for 200 children aged three and a half, researchers also noted whether they preferred to play with boys or girls.
However, no such link was found between the behaviour of boys and mothers' testosterone levels. The researchers believe that because testosterone levels are already high in unborn boys, small differences in the womb would have little effect.
Testosterone levels may also affect sexuality. Psychologists believe that the womb environment - rather than genes or upbringing - can determine whether some people are heterosexual or homosexual.
Prof Melissa Hines, a psychologist at City University, London, who led the study, funded by the Wellcome Trust medical charity, said: "In the past, gender role behaviour has been thought to be completely determined by social behaviour. But the study highlighted how the environment of the womb also plays an important role."
The findings, which come from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, are to be presented to the Royal Society in London today.
Copyright: (C) 2001 The Daily Telegraph London. via Bell&Howell Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved
Mothers' Hormones Turn Girls to Tomboys
2001 June 04 Printer-friendly format Email this article to a friend
By David Derbyshire Science Correspondent
A STUDY has found a clear link between high testosterone levels in a mother's womb and masculine behaviour in girls.
Girls exposed to higher doses of the male hormone were more likely to prefer toy cars to dolls, rough-and-tumble games to dressing up, and mud pies to tea parties.
In compiling a "masculine-feminine" score for 200 children aged three and a half, researchers also noted whether they preferred to play with boys or girls.
However, no such link was found between the behaviour of boys and mothers' testosterone levels. The researchers believe that because testosterone levels are already high in unborn boys, small differences in the womb would have little effect.
Testosterone levels may also affect sexuality. Psychologists believe that the womb environment - rather than genes or upbringing - can determine whether some people are heterosexual or homosexual.
Prof Melissa Hines, a psychologist at City University, London, who led the study, funded by the Wellcome Trust medical charity, said: "In the past, gender role behaviour has been thought to be completely determined by social behaviour. But the study highlighted how the environment of the womb also plays an important role."
The findings, which come from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, are to be presented to the Royal Society in London today.
Copyright: (C) 2001 The Daily Telegraph London. via Bell&Howell Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved
