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U of M Study: Competing For Women Unhealthy For Men ANN ARBOR, MI (Michigan Radio) -

University of Michigan researchers say a new study shows competing for a woman's attention is bad for a man's health.

It's common knowledge that on average women live longer lives than men. But new U of M research says men can blame their shorter life spans on women, well sort of.

Dan Kruger is a researcher at U of M. He says competing for a mate tends to make men take more dangerous risks and pursue more stressful careers, thus increasing their chances of dying younger.

"We've actually seen changes in the so-called internal causes of death," says Kruger, "Things that aren't directly behavior related, like cardio-vascular disease and cancer. Certainly behavior contributes to those, but its not like somebody doing something that directly leads to death."

Kruger says one way of lengthening the lives of men is to promote a more monogamist and more financially egalitarian society. Though he admits no human culture is perfectly free of mating competition among men.

Kruger's study appears in the journal...Evolutionary Psychology. © Copyright 2012, Michigan Radio