Why Women’s Mate Selection Changes During Cycles

For nearly twenty years, evolutionary psychologists claimed that women’s preferences for romantic partners changed predictably throughout their menstrual cycles. The Good Genes Ovulatory Shift Hypothesis posits that during peak fertility, women prefer masculine features, dominant behaviors, and indicators of genetic quality in potential partners. Recent research tells a different story. 

A 2021 study tracked 257 women across 1028 sessions, measuring salivary hormones and using luteinizing hormone tests to pinpoint conception risk. The researchers found weak evidence for ovulatory increases in attraction to male bodies, and these minor effects showed no consistent relationship with steroid hormone levels. This finding contradicts the predictions that dominated evolutionary psychology textbooks since the early 2000s. 

Hormones and Preferences: The Missing Connection 

Scientists know that estradiol levels rise and progesterone levels drop during the fertile late follicular phase. After ovulation, estradiol decreases while progesterone surges during the luteal phase, except for a smaller estradiol peak that occurs mid-luteal. These hormonal patterns are well-established through decades of endocrinological research. 

Yet when researchers examine how these hormones relate to mate preferences, the expected connections fail to materialize. Daily hormone measurements show no relationship to preferences for masculine features or facial symmetry. Average hormone levels across a woman’s cycle predict preferences better than hormone levels on any specific day, but even these averages show weak correlations at best. 

Age Gaps and Ovulation: When Biology Meets Partner Preference 

Research on ovulatory effects has occasionally examined how women evaluate potential partners of different ages throughout their cycles. While studies have tested preferences for various partner characteristics like facial masculinity, voice pitch, and competitive behaviors, some investigations have looked at how fertility might influence attraction to men at different life stages. Women participating in laboratory studies rate photographs and voice recordings of men ranging from college-aged to those in their forties, though findings suggest that if someone prefers dating an older guy during one phase of their cycle, this preference remains relatively stable across all phases. 

The hormonal fluctuations between follicular and luteal phases appear to have minimal impact on age-related partner preferences according to recent preregistered studies. When researchers tracked 257 women across multiple cycles while measuring luteinizing hormone and salivary steroids, they found that attraction patterns toward partners of various ages stayed consistent regardless of conception risk. This stability in age preferences contrasts with earlier evolutionary psychology predictions that fertility would dramatically alter what women find attractive in potential partners, suggesting that preferences for partner age operate independently from cyclical hormonal changes. 

Voices, Faces, and Behavior 

Two independent laboratories recruited large samples to test if women prefer deeper, more masculine voices during fertile periods. Both studies measured cycle phase, conception risk, and steroid hormone levels. Neither found evidence that fertility status influenced voice preferences. Similar null results emerged for facial masculinity and body type preferences across multiple well-powered studies published between 2020 and 2025. 

A preregistered investigation had 157 women rate 70 men during recorded intersexual interactions across two complete ovulatory cycles. Researchers examined both competitive behaviors and courtship displays. Women’s preferences for these behaviors remained stable throughout their cycles. Relationship status and within-woman hormone fluctuations had no effect on these preference patterns. 

Meta-Analyses Collide 

In 2014, two research teams published meta-analyses that reached opposite conclusions. Gildersleeve, Haselton, and Fales analyzed 134 effects from 50 studies and reported robust cycle shifts in preferences for genetic quality cues. Wood and colleagues examined 58 independent reports and found that fertile women showed no special desire for short-term relationships with supposedly high-quality men. 

The disagreement between these meta-analyses sparked intense scientific debate. Questions arose about the Gildersleeve analysis, and some findings were later retracted. A 2018 review concluded that women do not change the type of men they desire at different fertility points. The evidence supporting this null conclusion comes from methodologically rigorous experiments with large sample sizes. 

What Actually Changes 

While mate preferences remain stable, some psychological and behavioral changes do occur across the menstrual cycle. A study confirmed through luteinizing hormone tests found that sexual desire increases and body image improves during the fertile window. Sociosexual orientation and specific mate preferences showed no changes. 

Another highly powered study of 390 women documented decreased food intake and increased general sexual desire during fertile periods. In-pair sexual desire and initiation of sexual behavior also increased. These findings support the Motivational Priority Shifts Hypothesis proposed by researcher Roney, which suggests that fertility affects motivation levels rather than preference patterns. 

Methodological Problems in Earlier Research 

Recent replication failures highlight serious flaws in the original ovulatory shift literature. Early studies relied on counting days from menstruation to estimate fertility, a method now known to be highly inaccurate. Modern studies use luteinizing hormone tests and direct hormone measurements to confirm ovulation timing. 

Sample sizes in early research were often too small to detect real effects reliably. Between-subjects designs, in which different women are compared across different cycle phases, introduced substantial noise into the data. Current best practices require within-subjects tracking, in which the same women are measured across multiple cycle phases.