There has long been a theory that women are attracted to different men depending on the time of the month.
The theory goes that they find masculine men appealing when they are ovulating and kind, gentle men desirable when they are less fertile.
But now, new research suggests this is not the case.
Women are not attracted to different men at different times of the month, new research has revealed
U.S. researchers say that, in fact, there are very few shifts in what women want in a partner at different times in their menstrual cycle.
Researchers at the University of Southern California carried out an analysis of more than 58 research experiments.
They found that fertile women desire sex with men who seem particularly masculine or genetically fit.
However, they found that these women will be equally attracted to masculine men throughout the month.
In contrast, the researchers found that women who are not as fertile are more likely to be attracted to kinder, gentler men.
But, they are attracted to these men throughout the month, not just when they are at their least fertile.
Very fertile women are attracted to masculine men throughout the month while less fertile women are often attracted to gentle men all month
Lead researcher Professor Wendy Wood said: ‘These effects have become accepted lore. Our failure to find consistent effects of women’s hormonal cycling on mate preferences does not, of course, rule out such influences.
‘Yet our review suggests these effects are subtle, if at all present.’
She added: ‘By relying on outmoded theories that emphasise biology to the exclusion of culture, evolutionary psychologists may be missing some of the most important, characteristically human processes — our remarkable ability to exert control over our own behaviour.’
The team analysed prior research, which has used a range of factors to indicate male genetic fitness including the size of their jaw, cheekbone and brow ridges, their level of facial hair, the pitch of their voice and their behaviour.
The researchers then looked at how scientists carrying out the previous studies had determined fertility, including assessments of reproductive hormone levels and self-reported menstruation cycles, and compared whether fertile women found genetically fit men sexier than infertile women did.
The results of the meta-analysis showed that both fertile and non-fertile women prefer men with masculine attributes who demonstrate dominant behaviour.
More importantly, the preference for manly men wasn’t any stronger among women who were in the fertile phase of their menstrual cycle.
And wherever they were on their menstrual cycles, women also preferred kind men, the researchers found, and these preferences held across both long-term and short-term relationships.
‘A complete model of human reproduction needs to acknowledge women’s impressive capacity to regulate their own behaviour and not fall into the trap of biological determinism,’ said Professor Wood.
‘Regardless of what might have been normative in ancestral history, with the advent of cultural roles and complex group living, women showed the capacity to tailor their reproductive activities to a variety of social roles.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2632884/Women-ARENT-governed-menstrual-cycle-Study-quashes-theorythat-womens-choices-decisions-vary-different-times-month.html#ixzz32BFvPa9c
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