Do Women Feel Worse to Look Their Best? Testing the Relationship Between Self-Esteem and Fertility Status Across the Menstrual Cycle

Hill, Sarah E.; Durante, Kristina M.

doi:10.1177/0146167209346303

Cited by 36 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 60 publications

(84 reference statements)

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“…There are multiple possibilities that would be highly consistent with our theoretical perspective. For example, ovulating women might feel more comfortable with their bodies or another possibility is that ovulating women might feel more competitive and desire to seek status (Hill and Durante 2009). These and other possibilities 30 represent possible proximate-level mechanisms for how ovulation might influence behavior, whereby each proximate-level mechanism is consistent with our ultimate-level explanation for the existence of ovulatory shift effects.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ovulation, Female Competition, and Product Choice: Hormonal Influences on Consumer Behavior

Durante¹,

Griskevicius²,

Hill³

et al. 2011

J Consum Res

Self Cite

259

163

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Recent research shows that women experience nonconscious shifts across different phases of the monthly ovulatory cycle. For example, women at peak fertility (near ovulation) are attracted to different kinds of men and show increased desire to attend social gatherings. Building on the evolutionary logic behind such effects, we examined how, why, and when hormonal fluctuations associated with ovulation influenced women's product choices. In three experiments, we show that at peak fertility women nonconsciously choose products that enhance appearance (e.g., choosing sexy rather than more conservative clothing). This hormonally regulated effect appears to be driven by a desire to outdo attractive rival women. Consequently, minimizing the salience of attractive women who are potential rivals suppresses the ovulatory effect on product choice. This research provides some of the first evidence of how, why, and when consumer behavior is influenced by hormonal factors.

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Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ovulation, Female Competition, and Product Choice: Hormonal Influences on Consumer Behavior

Durante¹,

Griskevicius²,

Hill³

et al. 2011

J Consum Res

Self Cite

259

163

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, some research suggests that women with PMS have generally lower self-esteem scores than non-clinical controls (Morse et al1988) and therefore may have less stable self-esteem generally (Thewissen et al 2008). Hill and Durante (2009) investigated a non-clinical population of 52 undergraduate students, finding that self-esteem was higher at the least fertile phase of the cycle (late luteal phase), and low around the five days before and two days after ovulation (the most fertile point of the cycle). However, Edmonds et al (1995) found that self-esteem was not related to the menstrual cycle in their sample of 68 college students There is a considerable body of literature indicating that both anxiety and depression are exacerbated in the few days before and during menstruation (Clayton 2008).…”

Section: Self-esteem and The Menstrual Cyclementioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships between paranoid thinking, self-esteem and the menstrual cycle

Brock

Rowse

Slade

2015

Arch Womens Ment Health

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This study aimed to investigate whether paranoid experiences and levels of self-esteem fluctuate over the menstrual cycle and whether levels of self-esteem are lower when perceived persecution is felt to be deserved.Measures of anxiety, depression, persecution, deservedness and self-esteem were completed on-line by 278 women over their menstrual cycle. Responses were compared at the paramenstrual (three days before and after menses onset) and mid-cycle phase.At the paramenstrual phase persecution, negative self-esteem, anxiety and depression were higher and positive self-esteem was lower than at mid-cycle. A greater proportion of women experienced persecution as deserved at the paramenstrual phase. This was associated with higher depression and negative self-esteem scores.Increased levels of deservedness significantly strengthened the relationship between persecution and negative, but not positive, self-esteem.These findings suggest that the paramenstrual phase is a time of vulnerability to increased paranoid experiences, an increased likelihood that feelings of persecution will feel deserved and lowered self-esteem. The findings support the view that interpersonal sensitivities may be key to menstrual cycle symptoms and have an impact on relationships. Further, the study illustrated that ideas developed for psychosis could make a valuable contribution to understanding and managing this aspect of menstruation-related distress. KeywordsParanoia; Self-esteem; Menstruation; Premenstrual; Deservedness PARANOIA, SELF-ESTEEM AND THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE 3 Relationships between Paranoia, Self-Esteem and the Menstrual CycleThe menstrual cycle is characterised by hormonal fluctuations which accompany the processes of ovulation and menses in female human reproduction. The phases of the cycle have been linked to changes in both physical and psychological phenomena, the presentation and intensity of which varies considerably from woman to woman (Gonda et al. 2008). Typically, negative effects occur in the few days preceding and during menstruation. Increased interpersonal oversensitivity is commonly reported within the PMS literature (Pinkerton et al. 2010). Such sensitivities are likely to have major impacts upon relationships, and other commonly reported symptoms such as anxiety and depression. However, these sensitivities are rarely specifically investigated.! Paranoia and low self-esteem both reflect oversensitivity to interactions with others.Links between menstrual cycle phase and psychosis have long been postulated (see Brockington 2005 for a review). The literature also includes examples of exacerbation of bipolar disorder (Hendrick et al. 1996), exacerbation of schizophrenic symptoms (Harris 1997;Levitte 1997;Riecher-Rossler 2002;Hsiao et al. 2004;Bergemann et al. 2007) and the presentation of psychotic symptoms in major depression during the premenstrual and menstrual phases. Due to the physiological changes underpinning the menstrual cycle, research has focused upon physiological reasons for these phenomena, s...

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“…An important aspect of self-esteem is individuals' mate value, both self-perceived and as perceived by others (Hill & Durante, 2013). Mate value indicates how attractive someone is as a potential mate (Brase & Guy, 2004).…”

Section: Self-esteemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mate value indicates how attractive someone is as a potential mate (Brase & Guy, 2004). In order to increase mate value, self-enhancements such as working out and acquiring new clothes can be used (Brase & Guy, 2004;Hill & Durante, 2013;Park & Manner, 2009). Individuals in romantic relationships are less likely to use self-enhancements, and they tend to have higher self-esteem than those without significant others (Brase & Guy, 2004;Hill & Durante, 2013).…”

Section: Self-esteemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to increase mate value, self-enhancements such as working out and acquiring new clothes can be used (Brase & Guy, 2004;Hill & Durante, 2013;Park & Manner, 2009). Individuals in romantic relationships are less likely to use self-enhancements, and they tend to have higher self-esteem than those without significant others (Brase & Guy, 2004;Hill & Durante, 2013). Furthermore, married individuals have higher self-esteem compared to divorcees (Hill & Durante, 2013).…”

Section: Self-esteemmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Role of Intelligence in Mating: An Investigation of How Mating Intelligence Relates to Mate Selection and Mating-Relevant Constructs

Gisler¹,

Wade²

2015

HEB

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Do Women Feel Worse to Look Their Best? Testing the Relationship Between Self-Esteem and Fertility Status Across the Menstrual Cycle

Cited by 36 publications

References 60 publications

Ovulation, Female Competition, and Product Choice: Hormonal Influences on Consumer Behavior

Ovulation, Female Competition, and Product Choice: Hormonal Influences on Consumer Behavior

Relationships between paranoid thinking, self-esteem and the menstrual cycle

The Role of Intelligence in Mating: An Investigation of How Mating Intelligence Relates to Mate Selection and Mating-Relevant Constructs

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