Researchers Answer: When should I ask her out?
Women’s behavior towards men or sexual interest across the menstrual cycle have been studied previously. For first time, researchers in France have tried to find the change in women’s receptivity to an explicit courtship solicitation across different phases of the menstrual cycle.
Several studies have shown that during the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle – women show greater preference for facial masculinity, taller men, men expressing dominant behavior, male voice pitch, olfactory cues about body symmetry etc. Researchers term this as the “rose-tinted-spectacle” effect. It is also found that during the fertile phase, women are more prone to fantasizing about having sexual intercourse with a man other than their current partner, their overall interest and thoughts about sex peaked, they dress more provocatively, their frequency of intercourse was very high at ovulation & declined abruptly thereafter and women initiated sexual activity peaked during ovulation. However no research was conducted to directly test the receptivity of women to courtship applications, across different stages of the menstrual cycle.
A group of researchers selected three nightclubs in France where lots of young females visited. The clubs played two sessions (10 to 15 mins) of slow & romantic songs to encourage flirting and encounters. The researchers recruited 3 young men who were selected by a test of physical attractiveness rated by 20 young women. The 3 men only knew that they were role-playing for a study, but not exactly the details of the study. They had to use standard phrases like “Hello, My name’s Antoine. Do you want to dance?” (research suggest this as the common formula at nightclubs) and when refused “Too bad. Maybe another time?” When the slow song sessions start, the 3 men get into the crowd and court women (who are alone, with no partners of either sex). Upon rejection, they move about 3 meters away for the next participant. Three meters was enough distance to have the women not get suspicious about the three men approaching all women, due to the loud noise in the club. Irrespective of acceptance or rejection of the courtship application, a female researcher approached the participant informing about the study and inviting for a survey, which asked several questions including relationship status and days since the first day of the current menstrual cycle.
Of the 161 women who qualified 32 were in their menstrual (1 to 5) days, 51 were in their fertile (6 to 14) days and 78 were in their luteal (15 to 28) days. With regards to rejection or acceptance, 58% of women in their fertile days accepted as compared to 34% in menstrual days and 39% in luteal days. Further statistical analysis clearly demonstrated that the phase of the menstrual cycle had significant impact on accepting or rejecting the courtship application. However there is no understanding of whether the phase of the menstrual cycle influenced going to the nightclub.
Men, watch for those days and strike it!
Journal Reference: doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2009.03.004
Image Credit: 3rdeyek
