MateChoiceLabReport

Introduction:
MIRANDA
Theimportanceofunderstandinghumanevolutionisintrinsictonature.Itisvitalfor
peopletounderstandtheprocessofhowhumanscametobe,aswellashowtheyhavedeveloped
andadaptedtotheirenvironmentsthroughouttime.Theprocessofmatechoiceandhowithasa
directeffectonreproduction,forexample,isakeypointtonoteinthestudyofhumanevolution.
Ithasbeenconcludedthroughagreatnumberofscientificexperimentsthatscent,beinga
prominentfactorinmatechoiceandsexualselection,iscorrelatedtosurvivalinstinctsandhow
theyhaveanimpactonmatepreference.Whenawomanisovulating,orinotherwordsthemost
fertile,shesubconsciouslygivesoffadistinctscentthatresultsinmenbeingmoreattractedto
her.Thisscentreflectsawomanshealthyfertilesystemthatwillincreaseherchancesof
reproduction.
Awomansmenstrualcycleonaveragelasts28daysandhasfourkeyphasesthat
distinguishwhenawomanishermostfertile.Thefourphasesinorderare:the
menstrualphase
(Days1to5),follicularphase(Days1to13),ovulationphase(Day14),andthelutealphase
(Days15to28).Themenstrualandfollicularphasesoverlapandultimatelyarethephasesin
whichmenstrualfluidstarttoexitthebodyandwhenapituitaryglandsecretesahormonethat
stimulatestheeggcellsintheovariestogrow(Menstrupedia2016).TheOvulationphase,
otherwiseknownasthephaseinwhichawomanismostfertile,isthephaseinwhichtheovary
releasestheeggcellthathasmaturedthroughoutthecycle.Theovulationphaseultimately
extendsalongintothelutealphase.Thelutealphaseisthelastphaseinawomansmenstrual
cycleandisthephaseinwhichtheeggcellreleasedduringtheovulationphaseremainsinthe
fallopiantubeandisthemostfertiletosperm.
Thefactthatmenaresubconsciouslyabletodetectwhenawomanishermostfertileis
vitallyimportanttohumanreproduction.Awomanhasashorttimespanofabout2448hoursin
amonthofbeingfertile,incontrasttoamansabilitytoremainfertileatanytimewithina
month.Thus,
mensabilitytodetectawomansovulationisfundamentaltohumanreproduction
becauseovulationdirectlycorrelatestoawomanscapabilityofbeingfertile,andthusbeingable
toreproduceoffspring.
ApreviousstudyconductedbyFinnishscientistsdetectedwhethermenareinfactmore
attractedtoanovulatingwomansscent,asopposedtoanonovulatingwomansscent.
Kuukasjarvi(2004)
testedwhethertheabilitytodetectovulationislimitedtosolelymales.The
experimentwasconductedbymaleandfemaleraterswhoratedthesexualattractivenessof
Tshirts'odorswornby42womenusingoralcontraceptivesandby39womenwithoutoral
contraceptives.Malesconclusivelyratedhighestthesexualattractivenessofthosewomenwho
didnotuseoralcontraceptivesatmidcycle.Therewasnosignificantpreferenceinfemaleraters
ofusersandnonusers.Theresultsultimatelyconcludedthatmenuseolfactorycuesto
differentiatebetweenovulatingandnonovulatingwomen.

Althoughexperimentssuchasourshavebeenconductedmanytimesbefore,our
approachisslightlydifferentinthesensethatwewillbenotingdowntheagesandethnicitiesof
themaleparticipants.Wearedoingsobecauseethnicityandageultimatelymighthavea
significanteffectonscentpreference.Forexample,aLatinomanmightfindthescentofaLatin
womanmoreattractive,andsubsequentlypreferthatscent.

Methods:
JESSIE
Twofemaleparticipantsandfiftymaleparticipantsareinvolvedinthisstudy.Oneofthe
twofemaleisinherovulatingperiod(ShirtB)which
occursbetween12and14daysbefore
yourperiodstartswhenonehasaregular28daysmenstrualcycle
,andtheotherfemaleisnot
(ShirtA).Theywereeachaskedtowearoneidenticalshirtovernight,andputtheminazipbag
everytimetheytakeitofffortwonights.Fiftymaleparticipantsarerandomlyselectedat
PasadenaCityCollege.First,theirageandethnicitywasaskedandrecordedbecausetheculture
influenceandagecouldpossiblyimpacttheresultofthisstudy.Then,theywereaskedtosmell
thosetwotshirtsandratetheirscentbasedonattractiveness,pleasantness,andintensityatthe
scale1to7which1isthelowestand7isthehighest.Pleasantnessandintensityareincludedin
thisstudybecausewewanttoavoidthebiasitmightemergedwhentheexperimenttargetistoo
obvious.Datadidntshowanobviouscorrelationbetweeneithertwovariables.Onebox
and
whiskerdiagramwillbecreatedforeachshirtwhichwillprovidesamoreclearresult.

Results:
JOHN
TheboxplotbelowshowsthedatagatheredforShirtA(Figure1)andShirtB(Figure2).
Forattractiveness,75%ofourparticipantsgaveShirtAaratingof3andbelow.Incomparison,
75%ofourparticipantsgaveShirtBaratingof5andbelow.Also,themedianforShirtBis4,
whichistwicethemedianofShirtA.Regardingpleasantness,themajority(75%)ofour
participantsratedeachshirtbetween15.However,ShirtAsmedianisonepointabovethe
medianofShirtB.Underintensity,theresultsalmostparalleltheresultsfoundinmeasuring
pleasantness.Themajorityofourparticipantsratedeachshirtbetween14.Inthiscase,the
intensityofthescentfromShirtAwas0.5abovetheintensityofthescentfromShirtB.Overall,
ShirtBhadamuchhigherratingforattractiveness,butitsratingsforpleasantnessandintensity
werealmostidenticaltothoseofShirtA.

Figure1:TheresultsforShirtA.Asseenabove,Attractivenesshasamedianof2,
Pleasantnesshasamedianof3,andIntensityhasamedianof3.ThisdatashowsShirtAis
lessattractivethanShirtB.

Figure2:TheresultsforShirtB.Asseenabove,Attractivenesshasamedianof4,
Pleasantnesshasamedianof2,andIntensityhasamedianof2.5.Thisboxplotshowsour
participantsfoundShirtBmoreattractivethanShirtA.

Discussion:
SAMANTHA
Theresultsoftheexperimentsupportedthehypothesisthatmenareattractedtothescent
awomanexcreteswhensheisovulating.Thescentproducedbytheovulatingparticipant(shirt
B)wasratedmoreattractivethanthatofshirtA.Thepleasantnessandintensityofthescent
producedsimilarresultsonbothoftheshirts.However,themedianforintensityand
pleasantnesswerehigherinshirtA.BecauseshirtBwasdeemedmoreattractive,menmaybe
morelikelytoselecttheovulatingwomantomate.Preferencebetweenethnicitieswassimilar
anddidnotproduceanysubstantialdifferences.
Althoughmostmenwereinterviewedalone,insomeofthecases,theparticipantswerein
groups.Thismighthavecausesomebiasandmighthaveproduceddifferentresultifevery
participantwasinterviewedalone.Theexacttimeperiodofovulationisalsotrickysincethere
wasnoclinicalwayavailabletotesttheparticipantspointinhercycle.Itwasjustassumedthat
theparticipantsmidpointinhercyclemeantthatshewasovulating.Ifinfacttheovulating
participantwasnotinthefollicularphase,thedatawouldbeinvalid.Anotherpointisthat
pleasantness,intensity,andattractivenessmayhaveasubjectivedefinition,andmightpossess
differentmeaningstotheindividualparticipants.Thisiswhyitisimportanttolookintoresearch
donebyothers.
ApreviousstudydonebyKuukasjarvi(2004)usedthesimilartshirtexperiment,but
insteadtestedscentattractivenessofwomenusingoralcontraceptivesversusnone.This
experimentalsoletwomenandmensmelltheshirts.Theresultsweresimilarinthatmales
preferedodorsfromwomenintheirovulatoryphase.Attractivenessratingsalsopeakedina
studyby
Havlek,Dvokov,Barto,andFlegr,(2006)in
thefollicularphaseincontrasttothe
lowerratingsduringmenstruation.
Insteadofthethreecategoriesinthisexperiment,theirstudy
consistedoffour:attractiveness,pleasantness,intensity,andfemininity.Intensityintheirstudy
wasalsosimilartotheresultsshowninthisstudy:higherscentintensityinthenonovulatory
phasethanintheovulatoryphase.Itisimportantformalestodetectawomansfertilephaseas
showninthesestudies.Whenafemaleovulates,shegivesoffsignalstothemalethatsheis
readytomateandproduceoffspring.Foranimalsandhumansalike,moreoffspringmakesa
subjectmorebiologicallyfit.
Inthefuture,manyotherexperimentscanbeconductedtodeterminethetrue
attractivenessofmentoscentsreleasedbywomenduringovulation.Oneimportanttopicis
findingexactlywhereinthebrainthesespecificpheromonalactionstakeplace,andhowthey
relatetoanimals.Thescentwaspreviouslythoughttobeconcealed,butdetectablebymen.In
turn,humanpheromonesareimportanttolearningmoreaboutsexualselectionandhuman
behavior.

WorksCited

Havlek,J.,Dvokov,R.,Barto,L.,&Flegr,J.(2006).NonAdvertizeddoesnotMean
Concealed:BodyOdourChangesacrosstheHumanMenstrualCycle.
Ethology
,
112
(1),8190.
doi:10.1111/j.14390310.2006.01125.x

Kuukasjarvi,S.(2004).Attractivenessofwomen'sbodyodorsoverthemenstrualcycle:Therole
oforalcontraceptivesandreceiversex.BehavioralEcology,15(4),579584.RetrievedFebruary
12,2016.

http://menstrupedia.com/articles/physiology/cyclephases