Replication crisis: Does the menstrual cycle really affect what women find attractive? 05 Jun 2018

It can't have failed to escape you that psychology is in the midst of a replication crisis. Research findings previously thought to be solid and reliable have proven anything but, as teams of independent researchers have tried -- and failed -- to repeat the original experiments.

On The Psychology of Attractiveness Podcast I might be guilty of focussing too much on the most exciting new findings: findings that may or may not be supported by later research. So in this episode we'll look at a few replication studies that have recently called into question effects that we've talked about before on the show. Are women's partner preferences influenced by their menstrual cycle or hormonal contraceptives? We'll find out.

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Read the transcript!
The Replication Crisis: New Research on Human Attraction

"Hi, did you hear? The results of your PhD thesis have been overturned OK byeee!" Freestocks.org

The articles covered in the show:

Jern, P., Kärnä, A., Hujanen, J., Erlin, T., Gunst, A., Rautaheimo, H., et al. (in press). A high-powered replication study finds no effect of starting or stopping hormonal contraceptive use on relationship quality. Evolution and Human Behavior. Read summary

Jones, B. C., Hahn, A. C., Fisher, A. D., Wang, H., Kandrik, M., Han, C., et al. (2017). No compelling evidence that preferences for facial masculinity track changes in women's hormonal status. bioRxiv. Read paper

Jünger, J., Kordsmeyer, T. L., Gerlach, T. M., & Penke, L. (2018). Fertile women evaluate male bodies as more attractive, regardless of masculinity. PsyArXiv. Read paper

Jünger, J., Motta-Mena, N. V., Cárdenas, R. A., Bailey, D. H., Rosenfeld, K., Schild, C., et al. (2018). Do women's preferences for masculine voices shift across the ovulatory cycle? PsyArXiv. Read summary

Marcinkowska, U., Hahn, A. C., Little, A. C., DeBruine, L. M., & Jones, B. C. (2018). No evidence that women using oral contraceptives have weaker preferences for masculine characteristics in men’s faces. Read paper