Background: According to most studies, males self-report being physically and mentally healthier than females. The present study sought to determine if androgens might influence health.

Methods: Self-reports of physical and mental health were obtained from college students in Malaysia (N = 2,058) and the United States (N = 2,511). Androgen exposure was assessed based on five self-reported measures that were then factor analyzed. A clear two-factor solution resulted from the analysis: muscularity, physical strength, and athletic ability loaded onto a muscular coordination factor, while adult height and 2D:4D finger length measure loaded onto a bone growth factor.

Results: As hypothesized, for males and females in both countries, self-rated physical and mental health were both positively correlated to a significant degree with the muscular coordination androgen factor. The only significant correlation between self-rated health and the bone growth androgen factor was negative among the Malaysian sample.

Conclusions: Androgenic influences on muscular coordination appear to coincidentally alter self-rated physical and mental health. This conclusion conflicts with proposals that men and women would provide the same self-ratings of health if it were not for sex role training and discrimination.