Are Women More Likely to Cheat During Ovulation?

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Recent research from UCLA and the University of New Mexico indicates that women may be more likely to cheat during their most fertile phase, particularly when their current partner is perceived as less attractive than other men. This phenomenon is linked to evolutionary factors, suggesting that women have evolved to seek out more genetically favorable partners at certain times in their menstrual cycle. The discussion highlights the complexity of attraction, noting that love and physical attraction can be distinct, and that finding others attractive does not necessarily lead to infidelity. Participants humorously debated the implications of this research, including the challenges of tracking ovulation and the societal perceptions of romantic behavior, while also touching on the nature of relationships and the expectations surrounding romantic gestures. The conversation reflects a blend of scientific inquiry and lighthearted banter, emphasizing the multifaceted nature of attraction and relationships.
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http://newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp?RelNum=6713
Higgamous hoggamous, woman's monogamous; hoggamous higgamous, men are polygamous. Or maybe not.

New research from UCLA and the University of New Mexico suggests that members of "the gentler sex" may have evolved to cheat on their mates during the most fertile part of their cycle — but only when those mates are less sexually attractive than other men.

"Women know they have attractions that come and go, but they probably don't realize that these urges are tied to their cycle — as well as our evolutionary past," said Martie G. Haselton, a UCLA researcher and author of two new studies on the subject. "They just know that suddenly one day they're attracted to their hunky neighbor or handsome co-worker."
 
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MIH, now you know the scientific reason why your significant other has been watchful all the time! (You have to read the article to "get it".)
 
I've also heard theories that women are very clumsy around the time of ovulation. Which would explain why I tripped and fell on the pool boy.
 
Now I just need to learn how to figure out when a woman is ovulating... oh and I should probably make myself look "hunky" too.
 
TheStatutoryApe said:
Now I just need to learn how to figure out when a woman is ovulating...
well you COULD just ask her...:biggrin:
 
Math Is Hard said:
well you COULD just ask her...:biggrin:
Should I bring a thermometer with me?
 
TheStatutoryApe said:
Should I bring a thermometer with me?
Absolutely! No way we can lie to you then!:smile:
 
TheStatutoryApe said:
Should I bring a thermometer with me?
Think of a less invasive method.
 
  • #10
men have more to lose from a cheating mate (resources), hence the greater tendency for men to go psycho on cheating gf's. Both sexes do better with more partners of course, but women usually just have to settle for less...
 
  • #11
when a person is in love they do not find themselves attracted to others, ever.
 
  • #12
fileen said:
when a person is in love they do not find themselves attracted to others, ever.

I think love and physical attraction are seperable things. How is it not possible to be in love with someone, but still find another person physically attractive, perhaps even more physically attractive than the person whom you currently love? After all, we don't typically choose to love based soley on looks, so it would follow that the one we love isn't necessarily whom we would also consider maximally physically attractive. Now, perhaps you would argue that a person becomes much more attractive once you're in love with that person, but the way I see it, that opinion would no longer be confined to the scope of physical attraction, but an amalgamation of physical and non-physical attraction (i.e. love?).
 
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  • #13
It's normal to find others attractive, it's another to ACT on it.
 
  • #14
Thinking about the earlier thermometer comments, I don't think it would work. Or, rather, you'd have to know the person for a while and be able to take her temperature around the same time every day over the period of a month or two in order to really tell when she was ovulating.

Talk about major stalker tendancies... the only thing weirder than someone following you around for two months is someone following you around for two months and secretly taking your temperature.
 
  • #15
dicerandom said:
Talk about major stalker tendancies... the only thing weirder than someone following you around for two months is someone following you around for two months and secretly taking your temperature.
True. That rates pretty high on the creepy scale.:bugeye:
 
  • #16
Evo said:
It's normal to find others attractive, it's another to ACT on it.
Not really... no, actually I'm pretty sure they're the same thing, Franz?
 
  • #17
I'm laughing that it says the women are more likely to cheat if the other guys are more attractive than their own guy. :smile: Does it really matter what stage of the cycle you're at to move on to a more attractive guy if the one you're with is not as attractive? If there's something you find less attractive about him in the first place, isn't that a bad sign right from the get-go?
 
  • #18
Math Is Hard said:
...Which would explain why I tripped and fell on the pool boy.
327 times. :-p Oh and, you need a taller pool fence.
 
  • #19
Moonbear said:
Does it really matter what stage of the cycle you're at to move on to a more attractive guy if the one you're with is not as attractive?
I saw a study (OK, it was on TV...eeek...:redface: ) where women were asked to judge the relative attractiveness of a set of line drawings that depicted male faces with various classic features. The upshot :blushing: was that women seemed to have a stronger preference for rugged features during ovulation than at other times. This was explained in terms of two potentially competing selective pressures: 1) to acquire attractive genes; and 2) to acquire a good provider.
 
  • #20
Aether said:
1) to acquire attractive genes; and 2) to acquire a good provider.
...and 3) to acquire the bagboy at the grocery store.
:-p :biggrin:
 
  • #21
Artman said:
...and 3) to acquire the bagboy at the grocery store.
:-p :biggrin:
...yeh, and 4) to acquire the hotel security guy(s). :cool:
 
  • #22
MIH, do you have the study that shows that at certain times of the month that women were more attracted to pictures of a man with scissors lodged in his temple and a bat shoved up his...

I'm at work and can't get it.
 
  • #23
Evo said:
MIH, do you have the study that shows that at certain times of the month that women were more attracted to pictures of a man with scissors lodged in his temple and a bat shoved up his...
I'm at work and can't get it.
LOL! :smile: I think Tsu sent me those research findings, but I have misplaced them.
Moonbear said:
I'm laughing that it says the women are more likely to cheat if the other guys are more attractive than their own guy. :smile: Does it really matter what stage of the cycle you're at to move on to a more attractive guy if the one you're with is not as attractive? If there's something you find less attractive about him in the first place, isn't that a bad sign right from the get-go?
Good point. Seems like stating the obvious is something you see more and more in research results these days. You know as part of my job I get free training in grant writing. You and I should team up. We could do a study like "Vacationing in the Bahamas Temporarily Elevates Mood". What say?:approve:
Artman and Aether said:
1) to acquire attractive genes; and 2) to acquire a good provider 3) to acquire the bagboy at the grocery store 4) to acquire the hotel security guy(s).
You forgot the little long-haired, tattoed barrista down at the local Starbucks.:!)
 
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  • #24
Evo said:
MIH, do you have the study that shows that at certain times of the month that women were more attracted to pictures of a man with scissors lodged in his temple and a bat shoved up his...
I'm at work and can't get it.
I can find the quote you have posted in many places on the Web, but I cannot find the research paper itself, or a more detailed description of it.

Do you expect it to be on the UCLA psych dept. website?
 
  • #25
Math Is Hard said:
You forgot the little long-haired, tattoed barrista down at the local Starbucks.:!)
If you like her too, that's cool. :cool:
 
  • #26
Aether said:
If you like her too, that's cool. :cool:
actually I was thinking of something more along these lines..
http://homepage.mac.com/pauljlucas/personal/men/gallery/images/bach-thumb.jpg
 
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  • #27
Math Is Hard said:
actually I was thinking of something more along these lines..
http://homepage.mac.com/pauljlucas/personal/men/gallery/images/bach-thumb.jpg
Oh[/URL] yeah,that will work. :-p
 
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  • #28
Math Is Hard said:
actually I was thinking of something more along these lines..
http://homepage.mac.com/pauljlucas/personal/men/gallery/images/bach-thumb.jpg
I[/URL] see. Then my wish for you is that he's very smart and well spoken too.
 
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  • #29
Aether said:
I see. Then my wish for you is that he's very smart and well spoken too.
He speaks too?
 
  • #30
Evo said:
He speaks too?
Yes, and oh, MIH, you have to share him with Evo too (he won't mind). Well, you don't have to, but why not?
 
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  • #31
Moonbear said:
I'm laughing that it says the women are more likely to cheat if the other guys are more attractive than their own guy. :smile: Does it really matter what stage of the cycle you're at to move on to a more attractive guy if the one you're with is not as attractive? If there's something you find less attractive about him in the first place, isn't that a bad sign right from the get-go?
I think it's something like "beer-goggles", but for women...ahhh, that's it..."Estrogen-goggles".:biggrin:
Plus it works a little differently, instead of making all men attractive, it makes your current male less attractive. Gosh...women are weird.
 
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  • #32
Evo said:
He speaks too?
hmm.. y'know I never thought about it.. I guess he does!
Aether said:
Yes, and oh, MIH, you have to share him with Evo too (he won't mind). Well, you don't have to, but why not?
ok, we'll work out a schedule.
DocToxyn said:
..."Estrogen-goggles".
"Eggles"?:biggrin:
 
  • #33
"...The hypothalamus-derived hormone in control of the gonadotropins, and indirectly, all female sexual function, is gonadotropin releasing hormone (GNRH)..." -- http://itech.fgcu.edu/&/issues/vol1/issue2/hormone.htm

Can I change my screen name to "GNRH"?

DocToxyn said:
I think it's something like "beer-goggles", but for women...ahhh, that's it..."Estrogen-goggles".:biggrin:
"...a burst-like surge of stored LH [luteinizing hormone] is released..." How about "LH-goggles", possibly?

DocToxyn said:
Plus it works a little differently, instead of making all men attractive, it makes your current male less attractive. Gosh...women are weird.
Is that right? If the current male (e.g., "home boy") happens to meet all selection criteria, then would there still be a sudden urge to stray?

Math Is Hard said:
ok, we'll work out a schedule.
:approve:
 
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  • #34
Aether said:
Yes, and oh, MIH, you have to share him with Evo too (he won't mind). Well, you don't have to, but why not?
And, of course, PF could set up a webcam and webcast the event...uhh...:rolleyes: for scientific study purposes of course. :-p :biggrin:
 
  • #35
Aether said:
"...a burst-like surge of stored LH [luteinizing hormone] is released..." How about "LH-goggles", possibly?
Yeah, I was originally going to go with FSH or LH, but I didn't want to get too technical, this is GD after all.:devil:
Aether said:
If the current male (e.g., "home boy") happens to meet all selection criteria,
With all due respect to my gender, will any of us ever "meet all selection criteria"?
 
  • #36
DocToxyn said:
With all due respect to my gender, will any of us ever "meet all selection criteria"?
I shouldn't have said "all", what I really meant to refer to is just these two criteria: "1) to acquire attractive genes; and 2) to acquire a good provider." Nevertheless, I suppose that one man (other than Michael Jackson) couldn't have all of the facial features represented in the line drawings previously mentioned.
 
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  • #37
How about romantic? Why aren't men more romantic?
 
  • #38
Evo said:
How about romantic? Why aren't men more romantic?
Some of us are! o:)
 
  • #39
Astronuc said:
Some of us are! o:)
Yeah, all the married ones.

I want a funny, romantic, nice guy. :frown:
 
  • #40
Evo said:
How about romantic? Why aren't men more romantic?
Since I can only search my own heart I can only speak for myself, but I don't think that women really want to hear the answer to that question.
 
  • #41
Aether said:
Since I can only search my own heart I can only speak for myself, but I don't think that women really want to hear the answer to that question.
What's the answer?
 
  • #42
Evo said:
What's the answer?
First of all (leaving lots of room for personal growth, changes of mood, etc.) we are all who we are, and deserve to be respected (or not) for who we really are. Who do you, Evo, think that men (those who you are referring to here "Why aren't men more romantic?") really are?

I'm not trying to dodge your question, I will answer it if you work with me here.
 
  • #43
Aether said:
First of all (leaving lots of room for personal growth, changes of mood, etc.) we are all who we are, and deserve to be respected (or not) for who we really are. Who do you, Evo, think that men (those who you are referring to here "Why aren't men more romantic?") really are?
Who do I think that men really are? I don't understand the question.
 
  • #44
Evo said:
Who do I think that men really are? I don't understand the question.
Sorry. What do you think is (or may be) the answer to this question "Why aren't men more romantic?", or do you have no clue?
 
  • #45
Aether said:
Sorry. What do you think is (or may be) the answer to this question "Why aren't men more romantic?", or do you have no clue?
I have no clue. Of course, as Astronuc pointed out, some men are.
 
  • #46
Aether said:
Sorry. What do you think is (or may be) the answer to this question "Why aren't men more romantic?", or do you have no clue?
For the sake of argument, let's assume Evo does have a clue. After all she has demonstrated many time that she is bright, intelligent and well informed.

And besides, I'd like to know the answer too! :biggrin:

I think the question was somewhat rhetorical and perhaps somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Perhaps the question should be "Why aren't more men romantic?",

but let's go with the original question "Why aren't men more romantic?"
 
  • #47
Evo said:
I have no clue. Of course, as Astronuc pointed out, some men are.
Men can be quite romantic, but some of them may want to spread this out thinly over as many women (real or imagined) as possible without hurting anyone, whereas a woman may want a man to "spend" everything on her alone. Even if a man does not actually "act" on this impulse, it may be healthy to be able to acknowledge it.
Evo said:
Astronuc pointed out, some men are.
Of course. Some of this behavior is due to "nature", some of this behavior is due to "culture", and some of this behavior is due to "other" which includes logical decision making.
Astronuc said:
I think the question was somewhat rhetorical and perhaps somewhat tongue-in-cheek.
You have probably known her for much longer than I have, but it sounded like a real question to me. Sorry if I took it too seriously. :redface:
 
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  • #48
Evo said:
How about romantic? Why aren't men more romantic?
The problem is with the question here. You're assuming there's a single answer that covers all "unromantic" men. I guarrantee that under sodium pentathol interrogation of any "unromantic" man you find you'll get a different honest answer in each case.
 
  • #49
zoobyshoe said:
The problem is with the question here. You're assuming there's a single answer that covers all "unromantic" men. I guarrantee that under sodium pentathol interrogation of any "unromantic" man you find you'll get a different honest answer in each case.
What's the zoobie view on this?
 
  • #50
Evo said:
How about romantic? Why aren't men more romantic?

Gas...?
 

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