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Faculty

Timothy S. McHale

Timothy McHale
 

 

Assistant Professor

Research Interests

  • Biomedical Anthropology
  • Behavioral Neuroendocrinology
  • Human Biological Evolution
  • Biocultural approaches to sexuality
  • Childhood development and physiology

Contact Information

 

About Timothy McHale

Dr. Timothy McHale joined the Social Sciences Department in 2021 at Cal Poly as a part-time Lecturer. He was hired as an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Anthropology in the Fall of 2024. He earned his PhD from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in 2017, where he investigated juvenile children’s acute hormone responses to competition and their relationship with performance and physical and psychosocial stress. His biomedical and behavioral endocrinology research foci have included published work on transgender males in North America, the Tsimané forager-horticulturalists of the Bolivian Amazon, and urban Hong Kongese and American juvenile children. His most recent work was published in July 2024 in Evolution and Human Behavior and titled ‘Masculine Voice is Associated with Better Mucosal Immune Defense in Adolescent and Adult Males.’
 
Dr. McHale has taught 95 courses online and face-to-face across 9 different universities. With 14 different course offerings, he creates a vibrant interdisciplinary learning environment for undergraduate students by drawing upon biocultural approaches and his medical field and research experiences to aid our understanding of the dynamic human condition. His courses equip students with pragmatic tools and new perspectives that expand their sphere of compassion to others while recognizing our inescapable connection to all human and non-human life on this planet.
 

Education

  • Ph.D. Biological Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • MS.c. Evolutionary Anthropology, Durham University (United Kingdom)
  • B.S. Biology & B.A. Philosophy, University of Central Florida

Courses Taught

  • ANT 201: Cultural Anthropology
  • ANT 250: Biological Anthropology
  • ANT 344: Sex, Death, and Human Nature
  • ANT 345: Human Behavioral Ecology
  • ANT 401: Culture and Health

Selected Publications

  1. Villmoare, B., Klein, D., Liénard, P., & McHale, T. S. (2024). Evolutionary origins of temporal discounting: Modeling how time and uncertainty constrain optimal decision-making strategies across taxa. PloS one, 19(11), e0310658. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0310658

  2. Hodges-Simeon, C. R., Albert, G., McHale, T.S., Gaulin, S. J., Gurven, M., Landry, N., Hlay, J. K., Merullo, N., Puts, D. A., & Arnocky, S. A. 2024. Masculine voice is associated with better mucosal immune defense in adolescent and adult males. Evolution and Human Behavior, 45(4), 106590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2024.05.004
     
  3. Albert, G., Richardson, G. B., Arnocky, S., Bird, B., Fisher, M., Hlay, J., McHale, T. S., & Hodges-Simeon, C. R. 2022.Psychometric Evaluation of the Intrasexual Competition Scale. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02167-6
     
  4. Hodges-Simeon, C. R., Richardson, G. B., Albert, G., McHale, T. S., Weinberg, S., Gurven, M., & Gaulin, S. 2021. Was facial width-to-height ratio a product of sexual selection? A life course approach. PLOS ONE, 16(3): e0240284. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240284
     
  5. McHale, T. S., Gray, P. B., Hodges-Simeon, C. R., Zava, D. T., Albert, G., Chan, K., & Chee, W. 2020. Juvenile children’s salivary aldosterone and cortisone decrease during informal math and table-tennis competitions. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, 6(4), 413-435. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-020-00146-0
     
  6. McHale, T. S., Chee, W., Hodges-Simeon, C. R., Zava, D. T., Albert, G., Chan, K., & Gray, P. B. 2020. Salivary aldosterone and cortisone respond differently to high- and low-psychologically stressful soccer competitions. Sports Sciences, 38(23), 2688-2697.https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2020.1796164
  7. Hodges-Simeon, C. R., Grail, G., Albert, G., Landry, N., Ortiz, T. L., Carré, J. M., McHale, T. S., & Arnocky, S. A. 2020. Testosterone, cortisol, and secretory immunoglobulin-A within a single day and across two sequential days among trans- and cis-gender men. Steroids, 160, 108640. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.steroids.2020.108640
     
  8. Gray, P.B., Straftis, A., Bird, B., McHale, T. S., & S. Zilioli. 2019. Human reproductive behavior, life history, and the Challenge Hypothesis: A 30-year review, retrospective and future directions. Hormones and Behavior, 123, 104530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.04.017
     
  9. McHale, T. S., Gray, P. B., Chan, K., Zava, D. T., & Chee, W. 2018. Hong Kongese juvenile boys’ salivary steroid hormone responses during a dyadic athletic competition. American Journal of Human Biology, e23190. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23190
     
  10. McHale, T. S., Chee, W., Chan, K., Zava, D. T., & Gray, P. B. 2018. Coalitional physical competition: acute salivary steroid hormone responses among juvenile male soccer players in Hong Kong. Human Nature, 29(3), 245-267. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-018-9321-7
     
  11. McHale, T. S., Gray, P. B., Chan, K., Zava, D. T., & Chee, W. 2018. Acute salivary steroid hormone responses in juvenile boys and girls to non-physical team competition. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, 4(3), 223-247. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-018-0089-0
  12. Gray, P. B., Vuong, J., Zava, D., & McHale, T. S. 2018. Testing men’s hormone responses to playing League of Legends: No change in testosterone, cortisol, DHEA or androstenedione but a decrease in aldosterone. Computers in Human Behavior, 83, 230-234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.02.004
     
  13. Gray, P. B., McHale, T. S., & Carré, J. M. 2017. A review of human male field studies of hormones and behavioral reproductive effort. Hormones and Behavior, 91, 52-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2016.07.004
     
  14. McHale, T. S., Zava, D. T., Hales, D., & Gray, P. B. 2016. Physical competition increases dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and androstenedione rather than testosterone among juvenile boy soccer players. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, 2(1), 44-56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-015-0030-8

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