Male Midlife Anxiety

It's been said that correlation is not causation, but when I saw a doubling of traffic two days ago, it made me wonder.

Over the past several months, Baby Boomer men in particular have been getting hammered financially. You'd have to be living under a rock not to be aware of the economic malaise hammering our confidence and bank accounts. Since most men are hardwired to equate their masculinity with their ability to provide, the recent gyrations in the financial markets coupled with news of massive layoffs has most men freaking out. Hence, the spike in traffic. At least that's my theory.

Even if you have a good job, your future is still uncertain. Your 401K has been halved, and you believe that there's only so much time to replenish your savings for that ever-elusive "retirement."

The irony is that men mostly created this Masters of the Universe mentality which has left Wall Street gasping for air. In "Maybe the Meldown's a Guy Thing," The New York Times refers to a research study that suggests raging male hormones may explain why those who rule global markets send them up when excited (aggression=testosterone) and then down when scared (fear=coritsol).

According to John M. Coates, a former trader who is now a senior research fellow in neuroscience and finance at the University of Cambridge, many traders are influenced by either a positive feedback loop; an increase in testosterone creates a "winners high" or a negative feedback loop; an increase in cortisol creates emotional fear-mongers.

With wide market swings, traders are being whipsawed by their hormones. Because women and older men are less likely to produce excess cortisol and lower levels of testosterone, he advises getting more of them on the trading floors.

It may not be the midlife career change you were looking for, but it would give you an opportunity to recoup your investments.

Comments

[Nicolette Beard]

Kaylee,

I appreciate your positive feedback. I've debated whether to keep comments open because of potential abuse. That hasn't been my experience. However, for some reason, most people reading this blog don't comment.

Could it be a guy thing? LOL

If you want to follow me on twitter, just hit follow under my name at their site: http://twitter.com/nicolettebeard or click on the link in the upper right hand column. Then you can become part of the conversation.

Best,

Nicolette

[kaylee]

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

kaylee

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