An Investigation of Menstrual Cycle Effects on the perception of facial attractiveness

Abstract

The present study, performed within the framework of evolutionary psychology, is an examination of the influence of hormonal fluctuations, associated with the phases of the menstrual cycle, on judgements of male and female facial attractiveness. It was hypothesized that women in the periovulatory phase would be more discriminating in rating male facial attractiveness than women in the early follicular phase, due to an increased likelihood of conceiving. Alternatively, if peri-ovulatory women are too selective, they may not fmd a mate; therefore, women in the peri-ovulatory phase could be more discriminating than women in the early-follicular phase. Judgements of female facial attractiveness were also examined as it may be associated with same sex competition. Lastly, salivary testosterone was analyzed in order to investigate the relationship between attractiveness ratings and testosterone levels, as testosterone is linked to women's libido and sexuality. To test these hypotheses, 129 undergraduate females who had regular and normally cycling menstrual cycles rated male and female facial attractiveness twice, once during the peri-ovulatory phase and again during the early-follicular phase. Menstrual phase had no significant influence on judgements of facial attractiveness of male and female faces. Female faces were rated as more attractive than male faces independent of phase, and the ratings were more variable for the female faces than the male faces. There was no difference in levels of salivary testosterone during the peri-ovulatory and the early follicular phase, and no significant correlations were obtained to support the hypothesis of a relationship between judgements of attractiveness and testosterone.