Understanding sexual behaviour and attitudes: a big data approach

The project aims to use secondary analysis of large datasets to better understand sexual behaviour. The
starting point is the link between testosterone and sexual behaviours and attitudes. Data across taxa
have concluded that testosterone plays a role in physiological and psychological functions. Testosterone
has also been identified as having a mediating role in sexual behaviour and attitudes in humans. Further,
sexual behaviour is understood to have an important influence on well-being, and ultimately, public
health. Research into the relationship between testosterone and sexual behaviours, however, is less
clear. Problems with past research further complicate this association and are difficult to generalise. The
current PhD aims to address these issues, by utilising a large-scale probability sample of 15,000
participants and approximately 4,500 salivary Testosterone assays. During the PhD, further research
questions will be formulated and tested using other, large secondary datasets.