Men are not aware of and do not respond to their female partner's fertility status: Evidence from a dyadic diary study of 384 couples

Lara Schleifenbaum; Julia Stern; Julie C. Driebe; Larissa L. Wieczorek; Tanja M. Gerlach; Ruben C. Arslan; Lars Penke

doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2022.105202

Men are not aware of and do not respond to their female partner's fertility status: Evidence from a dyadic diary study of 384 couples

Lara Schleifenbaum^*, Julia Stern, Julie C. Driebe, Larissa L. Wieczorek, Tanja M. Gerlach, Ruben C. Arslan, Lars Penke

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

156 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Understanding how human mating psychology is affected by changes in female cyclic fertility is informative for comprehending the evolution of human reproductive behavior. Based on differential selection pressures between the sexes, men are assumed to have evolved adaptations to notice women's within-cycle cues to fertility and show corresponding mate retention tactics to secure access to their female partners when fertile. However, previous studies suffered from methodological shortcomings and yielded inconsistent results. In a large, preregistered online dyadic diary study (384 heterosexual couples), we found no compelling evidence that men notice women's fertility status (as potentially reflected in women's attractiveness, sexual desire, or wish for contact with others) or display mid-cycle increases in mate retention tactics (jealousy, attention, wish for contact or sexual desire towards female partners). These results extend our current understanding of the evolution of women's concealed ovulation and oestrus, and suggest that both might have evolved independently.

Original language	English
Article number	105202
Journal	Hormones and Behavior
Volume	143
Early online date	02 Jun 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2022.105202
Publication status	Published - Jul 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
L.S. was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – Project number 254142454 / GRK2070 . The funders had no role in conceptualisation, study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Inc.

Keywords

Mate retention
Hormonal contraception
Dyadic diary
Menstrual cycle
Romantic couples
Cues to fertility

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Endocrinology
Endocrine and Autonomic Systems
Behavioral Neuroscience

Access to Document

10.1016/j.yhbeh.2022.105202Licence: Unspecified

Men are not aware of and do not respond to their female partner's fertility status: Evidence from a dyadic diary study of 384 couples
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. This manuscript is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits distribution and reproduction for non-commercial purposes, provided the author and source are cited.
Accepted author manuscript, 1.78 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Ovulation: Myths about the female menstrual cycle - "The idea of a double sexuality has been refuted" (Spektrum)
Penke, L. & Gerlach, T.
11/01/2023
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
Men do not realize that their wives are fertile right now (Spektrum)
Penke, L. & Gerlach, T.
06/01/2023
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Research

Cite this

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title = "Men are not aware of and do not respond to their female partner's fertility status: Evidence from a dyadic diary study of 384 couples",

abstract = "Understanding how human mating psychology is affected by changes in female cyclic fertility is informative for comprehending the evolution of human reproductive behavior. Based on differential selection pressures between the sexes, men are assumed to have evolved adaptations to notice women's within-cycle cues to fertility and show corresponding mate retention tactics to secure access to their female partners when fertile. However, previous studies suffered from methodological shortcomings and yielded inconsistent results. In a large, preregistered online dyadic diary study (384 heterosexual couples), we found no compelling evidence that men notice women's fertility status (as potentially reflected in women's attractiveness, sexual desire, or wish for contact with others) or display mid-cycle increases in mate retention tactics (jealousy, attention, wish for contact or sexual desire towards female partners). These results extend our current understanding of the evolution of women's concealed ovulation and oestrus, and suggest that both might have evolved independently.",

keywords = "Mate retention, Hormonal contraception, Dyadic diary, Menstrual cycle, Romantic couples, Cues to fertility",

author = "Lara Schleifenbaum and Julia Stern and Driebe, {Julie C.} and Wieczorek, {Larissa L.} and Gerlach, {Tanja M.} and Arslan, {Ruben C.} and Lars Penke",

note = "Funding Information: L.S. was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – Project number 254142454 / GRK2070 . The funders had no role in conceptualisation, study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 Elsevier Inc.",

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AU - Wieczorek, Larissa L.

AU - Gerlach, Tanja M.

AU - Arslan, Ruben C.

AU - Penke, Lars

N1 - Funding Information: L.S. was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – Project number 254142454 / GRK2070 . The funders had no role in conceptualisation, study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Elsevier Inc.

PY - 2022/7

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N2 - Understanding how human mating psychology is affected by changes in female cyclic fertility is informative for comprehending the evolution of human reproductive behavior. Based on differential selection pressures between the sexes, men are assumed to have evolved adaptations to notice women's within-cycle cues to fertility and show corresponding mate retention tactics to secure access to their female partners when fertile. However, previous studies suffered from methodological shortcomings and yielded inconsistent results. In a large, preregistered online dyadic diary study (384 heterosexual couples), we found no compelling evidence that men notice women's fertility status (as potentially reflected in women's attractiveness, sexual desire, or wish for contact with others) or display mid-cycle increases in mate retention tactics (jealousy, attention, wish for contact or sexual desire towards female partners). These results extend our current understanding of the evolution of women's concealed ovulation and oestrus, and suggest that both might have evolved independently.

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KW - Hormonal contraception

KW - Dyadic diary

KW - Menstrual cycle

KW - Romantic couples

KW - Cues to fertility

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DO - 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2022.105202

M3 - Article

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M1 - 105202

ER -

Men are not aware of and do not respond to their female partner's fertility status: Evidence from a dyadic diary study of 384 couples

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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Press/Media

Ovulation: Myths about the female menstrual cycle - "The idea of a double sexuality has been refuted" (Spektrum)

Men do not realize that their wives are fertile right now (Spektrum)

Cite this