Hormones’ Effect on Creativity

You probably think of emo teenagers writing depressive poetry when you think of hormones and creativity, but hormones drive our bodies — male and female — throughout our lives. And since they are a large part of our drive, they contribute significantly to our creativity. This is a look at estrogen — the primary female hormone — and testosterone — the primary male hormone. It is important to note, both men and women have both hormones, just in different proportions. And our ratios of one to the other change periodically for women, and sometimes daily for men. Both have significant changes in mid- to late- life, when women’s ratio of testosterone rises, and men’s decline.

The balance of estrogen and T in the bloodstream, because of age, mood, or cycle can directly impact our creative drive, vision, and confidence.

Excerpted from my book Sex, Lies & Creativity (2014, Difference Press)

“… women’s bodies carry eight times more estrogen than men, on average. Men have estrogen too, but their primary hormone is Testosterone, in a 10:1 ratio to women’s bodies, on average. Keeping those ratios in mind, take a look at what each of these hormones create in a body. The hormones’ attributes are listed in Table 2. Effects of hormones on human behavior.

Table 2. Effects of hormones on human behavior

Estrogen Attributes

• Inclusiveness
• Collaboration
• Emphasis on community
• Nurturing behaviors
• Simultaneous thinking
• Intuition
• Many right ways
• Flexible and conditional

Testosterone Attributes

• Exclusiveness
• Competition
• Emphasis on hierarchy
• Dominance behaviors
• Sequential thinking
• Logic
• One right way
• Rigid and dogmatic

Adapted from The Accelerated Learning Handbook by Dave Meier (2000)

Is it safe to say that women are more likely to be inclusive? Collaborative? Less competitive than men? Yes. We have T (testosterone) in our bodies too, but 1/10 of theirs. As a group, we actively deemphasize hierarchy, even as children when playing, in community groups, in our families. These days, most of us wouldn’t say that our husbands are in charge, but we’re also pretty unlikely to say we’re in charge of the family. Even if it’s true. (Especially if it’s true.) Nurturing behaviors can make great managers and leaders. And because women entered the workforce, and worked to fit in and succeed, some women are trained in hierarchical leadership, and yet, as time goes on, some are leading in more feminine ways. Many styles of leadership are showing up that are less hierarchical, and still quite effective: Authentic, Creative, Affiliative, and Coaching leadership styles, to name a few.

Nelson Mandela said he learned to lead among his tribal elders, and therefore he always led “as a shepherd does” from behind. Brilliant.

The hormonal attributes in Table 2. point to one of the biggest gender differences for its impact on potential creativity: “Flexible and conditional” vs. “Rigid and dogmatic.”

Rigidity is the opposite mindset necessary for creativity. Flexibility can serve in many phases of the process. Conditional thinking might be indecisive and therefore interfere in convergent steps within a phase — i.e. the ability to decide, choose, and promote one concept over another.

Anyone, male or female, could take offense at being called either “conditional” or “rigid.” First, I’ll remind you, these are hormonal attributes that contribute to who we are, and men and women have both T and estrogen. The ratios discussed so far are an average. Some people aren’t exactly average — they’re a little more feminine, or a little more masculine than average, and that goes for either gender. Those ratios can change as we discussed above based on outside factors. And second, let me ask you to consider your own behavior in the last month or so. Was there a time when you were rigid or inflexible? Might it have coincided with a time when your T levels were on the rise? For both men and women, T rises during a confrontation. For women, we have a strong surge in T in the middle of the menstrual cycle.”

Are we slaves to our hormone surges and changes? It is always important to be self aware. It is equally important not to judge yourself or someone else for the hormone soup they happen to be living in, at the moment. You might feel fuzzy or indecisive. You might feel rigid and dogmatic. Neither is a locked gateway to creativity. But judgement very often is. Accept who you are, at the moment, and work with it. Please join me and other self-accepting writers in the FB Group — Write without the Fight.