After Election Results Announced, McCain Voters Saw Testosterone Drop: Study

A study published in the Public Library of Science (PLOS One) examined the results of the 2008 Presidential Election. In this case, however, the results were examined using a different metric than most: testosterone level.

The study, "Dominance, Politics, and Physiology: Voters' Testosterone Changes on the Night of the 2008 United States Presidential Election" examined the testosterone levels of 183 voters, who provided multiple saliva samples before and after the winner was announced on Election Night. The study noted:

Political elections are dominance competitions. When men win a dominance competition, their testosterone levels rise or remain stable to resist a circadian decline; and when they lose, their testosterone levels fall.

Voters for both candidates, McCain and Obama, had similar testosterone levels when polling stations closed on the East coast. Once Obama as declared the winner, however, the levels in McCain backers fell.

Since, as the study noted, men's testosterone levels follow a circadian cycle, and drop at night, since the levels among men who voted for Obama remained stable, the study said their level was actually equivalent to a rise.