To all the males out there - you no longer need a poor excuse to grab your mates together for a big night out!
A recent study has found a man having a night out with his mates illicits far less stress than being with his partner or family.
The research tells us that men suffer less anxiety when out in a group, which certainly makes a lot of sense to me at least.
The researchers point out:
"in humans and obligatory social animals, individuals with weak social ties experience negative health and fitness consequences."
So they set out to test the hypothesis that potentially the company of "close social partners" would temporarily improve the men.
So they studied groups of Barbary macaques, a type of ape which very closely exhibits human-like social behaviour.
And what did they find?
The readings of the male stress hormones were much higher when the male macaques were with their partner or other family members.
But when they were put with their friends they were significantly more relaxed!
The researchers also found that men look after each other in the same way monkeys pick insects and fleas out of each other's fur.
Christopher Young, one of the researchers tell us:
"If male primates live in multimale groups they usually fight fiercely over access to females, but males can develop friendly relationships with a few group mates....Male macaques form social bonds similar to human friendships that buffer them against day-to-day stressors.”
So gentleman, next time you need a night out, point towards this article as an excuse...
And ladies - I'm sorry, but you've rather a less stressed partner wouldn't you?!
"Stay Fit, Stay Flexed!"
Reference
(1) Young C, Majolo B, Heistermann M, Schülke O, Ostner J. Responses to social and environmental stress are attenuated by strong male bonds in wild macaques. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2014;111(51):18195-18200. doi:10.1073/pnas.1411450111.
Author
Dayne Hudson