Changes in women’s hormonal cycles have no impact on their preferences for men’s behavior, according to a new study from the University of Göttingen.
Based on the data used in the study, women perceived men slightly more attractive when they are fertile. Without any link to women’s hormone cycle, flirtier men were seen more attractive for sexual relationships but less attractive for long-term relationships.
Published in Psychological Science, the study “Probing Ovulatory-Cycle Shifts in Women’s Preferences for Men’s Behaviors” was based on 157 female participants who are 18 to 35 years old, heterosexual, and with natural cycle.
Findings showed no evidence that a woman's mate preference fluctuates across the ovulatory cycle. Women find men more attractive for short-term sexual relations when they become more competitive and express courtship, like flirting. However, the same men are not considered for long-term relationships, independent of cycle phase.
"There is a lot of research on women's mate preferences, so at first we were surprised that we didn't see the same effects. However, our new results are in line with other recent studies using more rigorous methods than previous studies. The finding that ratings of attractiveness increase in the fertile phase, independently of men's behavior, is new, and indicates that women's mating motivation is likely to be higher in the fertile phase,” said first author Dr. Julia Stern from the University of Göttingen's Institute of Psychology.
The good genes ovulatory shift hypothesis (known as GGOSH) suggests that women's preferences for certain behaviors, associated with men's genetic fitness, vary according to their fertility.
The study’s participants watched videos of a man getting to know a woman who was out of frame. During the testing sessions, the female participants scored the men on sexual attractiveness for a short-term relationship without commitment and on attractiveness for a long-term relationship. Saliva samples were used to examine current hormone levels. The women underwent highly sensitive urine ovulation tests for validating the ovulation date as well as the fertile period.
