No increased inbreeding avoidance during the ovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle

Holzleitner, I. J. , Driebe, J. C., Arslan, R. C., Hahn, A. C. , Lee, A. J. , O'Shea, K. J. , Gerlach, T. M., Penke, L., Jones, B. C. and DeBruine, L. M. (2022) No increased inbreeding avoidance during the ovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 4, e47. (doi: 10.1017/ehs.2022.41) (PMID:37588927) (PMCID:PMC10426077)

Abstract

Mate preferences and mating-related behaviors are hypothesized to change over the menstrual cycle to increase reproductive fitness. Recent large-scale studies suggest that previously reported hormone-linked behavioral changes are not robust. The proposal that women's preference for associating with male kin is down-regulated during the ovulatory (high-fertility) phase of the menstrual cycle to reduce inbreeding has not been tested in large samples. Consequently, we investigated the relationship between longitudinal changes in women's steroid hormone levels and their perceptions of faces experimentally manipulated to possess kinship cues (Study 1). Women viewed faces displaying kinship cues as more attractive and trustworthy, but this effect was not related to hormonal proxies of conception risk. Study 2 employed a daily diary approach and found no evidence that women spent less time with kin generally or with male kin specifically during the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle. Thus, neither study found evidence that inbreeding avoidance is up-regulated during the ovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: O'Shea, Dr Kieran and Jones, Professor Benedict and Lee, Dr Anthony and Hahn, Dr Amanda and DeBruine, Professor Lisa and Holzleitner, Dr Iris
• Authors: Holzleitner, I. J., Driebe, J. C., Arslan, R. C., Hahn, A. C., Lee, A. J., O'Shea, K. J., Gerlach, T. M., Penke, L., Jones, B. C., and DeBruine, L. M.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
• Journal Name: Evolutionary Human Sciences
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• ISSN: 2513-843X
• ISSN (Online): 2513-843X
• Published Online: 28 September 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Evolutionary Human Sciences 4: e47
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
166879		OCMATE	Benedict Jones	European Research Council (ERC)	OCMATE FP7ERC282655	Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging
172112		KINSHIP: How do humans recognise kin?	Lisa DeBruine	European Research Council (ERC)	647910	Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging