(Oct. 12) -- There's something called The Challenge Hypothesis, a theory about testosterone levels increasing when a person wins at something. It's a rather elegant idea, applicable to everything from evolutionary psychology to aggression in lizards to soccer fans in the U.K. And its results are so consistent that at this point it's not really a theory at all but more or less an accepted fact. You win -- directly or even just vicariously, after rooting for someone who wins -- and your testosterone count spikes.
Patrick Markey is a psychology professor at Villanova. His wife, Charlotte Markey, is a psychology professor at Rutgers. They know a lot about the Challenge Hypothesis, and wanted to test it in a new way. You could say they found one.
The pair's forthcoming study argues that in the days after a national election, people who supported the winner watch more online porn than people who supported the loser. "The results were very consistent," Patrick Markey tells AOL News.
The pair used Google Trends to examine keyword searches during the week following the 2004, 2006, and 2008 elections. In 2004, in red states, searches for "porn" or nine other porn-like words (move much beyond "boobs" and it becomes too taboo for an academic journal, let alone a family website) increased by roughly 2 percent. In 2006, in blue states, following the House and Senate going Democratic, searches using porn keywords increased by roughly 3 percent. In 2008, the same thing. Blue staters were watching about 3 percent more porn than red staters. "That 2 to 3 percent may not seem like a lot," Markey says. But when you consider that Google has 2 billion searches from U.S. IP addresses per week, a 3 percent swing is ... well, first off, it's easy to figure because Google will do the calculation for you ... but a 3 percent swing is 60 million more searches for porn.
Now, as any first year psychology student knows, correlation does not equal causation. Markey concedes that he can't say for sure that the Challenge Hypothesis is causing the uptick in porn clicks. It could be that people are just happier following an election and need a, um, release. But the Markeys' study cites another which shows that people don't have more sex when they're happy. If anything, they have more sex when they're sad, as a means to become happy.
Patrick Markey argues that what his study offers is a "remarkably consistent" correlation, across years and political parties. He plans to test his idea after November, after the mid-terms. "How can I not?"
Google Data Show Porn Use Rises After Election Wins
Oct 12, 2010 – 6:55 AM
Report: Yahoo Is Bidding On Hulu
GOP Senator: Obama Speech A 'Victory' For 'Terrorists'
LOOK: How Bad Are Your State's Bridges?
Joe Arpaio Violated Latinos' Rights, Judge Rules
Abercrombie Announces Plummeting Sales Amid Controversy
Fox News Host's Outrageous Comment
The iPhone Might Get A Lot Sleeker Very Soon
DOJ Confirms Holder Vetted Warrant For Rosen Emails
WHOOPS! Obama Makes Big Gaffe
Ann Coulter's Wild Conspiracy Theory
GOP Rep Tells Woman She Should Have Carried Brain-Dead Fetus To Term, Just In Case
Wife Of Beheaded British Soldier's Heartbreaking Interview
Governor Goes To Bat For Obamacare
Gay Teen Charged With Felonies Over Relationship Refuses Plea Deal
Sequestration Shuts Down The IRS
Bob Menendez: We Don't Have 60 Votes For Immigration Bill
Toronto Mayor: I Don't Smoke Crack
Student Shot At Middle School
Obama OKs Honor For '63 Birmingham Bombing Victims
CEO's Severance Pay Under Fire
Obama Gitmo Plan At Odds With Top Military Advisers
Madrid's Catholic Church Says It Needs Exorcists
McConnell, Paul Gang Up On GOP
'In Fantasy Land, We Teach Our Kids Abstinence -- And They Listen'
GOP Senate Candidate Calls Dem 'Pond Scum'
Schneiderman: More Proof Of Bank Mortgage Abuses
Remembering The Victims Of The Tornado
759 Bridges In Washington Have Worse Scores Than The One That Collapsed
WATCH: Maddow Excoriates Alex Jones
Spain Spent $680 Million On A Submarine That Can't Float
Palin Gets Confused
