Desire to cheat on mate may strengthen when ovulating
By Shauntel Lowe
Jan. 9, 2006 9:00 p.m.
Women who feel the urge to cheat on their mates a few weeks
before “that time of the month” can point to evolution
as the reason for their desire, according to a new study.
The study, conducted by researchers from UCLA and the University
of New Mexico, found women are more inclined to cheat on their
mates with more sexually attractive males during the middle of
ovulation, when they are most fertile.
Women’s increased temptation to cheat during the middle of
the cycle is something like a mid-life crisis: They may begin
questioning if they are with the right man, whether he is a stable
mate, or if they are doing something wrong in the relationship.
Researchers say the temptation is not necessarily an indication
of problems in the relationship but the natural inclination of
women, according to mating principles developed through
evolution.
Steve Gangestad, a professor of psychology at the University of
New Mexico and a researcher on the study, said that when women are
fertile they begin “gene shopping.”
Gangestad said physical attractiveness and qualities that
indicate greater masculinity, such as a deeper voice, confidence
and dominant behavior around other males, are appealing because
they imply the male could be a healthy mate for the woman to
reproduce with.
“They’re paying more attention to what, ancestrally,
could have been indicators of robust construction,” he
said.
Gangestad said that what is different about this study is the
way the current mates the women had were incorporated into the
research.
“The novel aspect of this study is it looked at what are
the characteristics of the men and how do those affect the women?
When a woman reports her partner’s strong suit is not that
he’s a really attractive, sexy guy, but a stable mate,
that’s when she’s going to be attracted to other
men,” he said.
Lead researcher Martie Haselton, an assistant professor of
communication studies and psychology at UCLA, emphasized, however,
that the message of the study is not that women cheat more but
rather that their desires change more as a result of ovulation.
While it is true sometimes that desires translate into behavior,
whether or not that happens is up to the woman, she said.
For the study, a group of 38 female coeds from a U.S. university
were asked to rate their mate’s attractiveness as someone to
have a fling with and how suitable he was for a long-term
relationship. They also provided researchers with 35 diary-like
entries in which they rated how strongly they were attracted to men
other than their mates every day and how often they flirted and
acted on their attractions.
The male partners of the women also exhibited behavioral changes
during the middle of their mates’ cycles. The males acted
kinder and were more protective and jealous of their partners.
Haselton also conducted a second study with Elizabeth
Pillsworth, a sixth-year doctoral candidate in biological
anthropology at UCLA. For this study, 43 normally ovulating women
also rated their partners’ attractiveness, but only once per
day near ovulation and once in the non-fertile days after
ovulation. This study had similar results, with women finding
themselves more attracted to men other than their partners but only
if they didn’t find their own mates particularly
attractive.
Pillsworth said she found it very interesting how much influence
the qualities of the women’s primary partners had on their
feelings during high fertility.
“It’s hard to find someone both really super sexy
and who’s also a really good investing partner …
who’s going to stick around and help you raise
offspring,” she said.
Haselton said with this research she hopes to empower women.
“It is my hope that by communicating this research to
people out in the real world, not just scientists themselves, it
will empower women to make more informed sexual decisions,”
she said. “If a woman knows it is a biological stew of
hormones toying with her desires, she might choose to disregard
them altogether. It doesn’t mean her relationship is in peril
or isn’t worth maintaining.”
