Original scientific paper
Femininity and Masculinity across the Menstrual Cycle: A relation to Mate Value
Ivana Hromatko
Meri Tadinac
Andrea Vranić
Abstract
Numerous studies have shown that menstrual cycle related variations in sex hormones influence various cognitive
processes. These shifts are considered as the evidence for a hormone-mediated adaptive design underlying human mating
motivation. In a series of related studies we have shown that (i) femininity does not vary across the menstrual cycle,
whereas masculinity is the most pronounced during the fertile period, (ii) masculinity, but not femininity, predicts shifts
in spatial cognition across the menstrual cycle, and (iii) women with different positions on masculinity and femininity
dimensions differ in their self-perceived mate value. These results suggest that (i) there might be a hormone mediated
psychological mechanism making a woman more assertive and dominant during a short time-window when the conception
is likely, (ii) menstrual cycle related shifts in cognitive abilities and mating motivation might have a common hormonal
mechanism, and (iii) women’s mate value (and indirectly her reproductive success) depends upon both feminine
and masculine traits.
Keywords
menstrual cycle; masculinity; femininity; cognition; mate value
Hrčak ID:
24558
URI
Publication date:
13.5.2008.
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