Science Questions

Do Women attract men more when fertile by subconsciously acting differently?

Do Women attract men more when fertile by subconsciously acting differently? Perhaps they wear more perfume without realising? Visworld Titanum, on Second Life

Well that was what people said about the study done [by Geoffrey Miller and his colleagues] on the lap dancers. [They found that lapdancers' tips shoot up by over 200% when they are at their most fertile].

Some suggested tThat perhaps the women were making themselves more attractive to the men and it was a female behavioural thing that was making them more attractive. 

In the present study [in which men were asked to sniff T-shirts worn by women at different phases of their menstrual cycles], what the researchers sought to do was to iron that out by making sure that the women who wore the T-shirts that were sniffed by the men only bathed using a neutral smelling soap.  They all used the same cosmetics.  They didn’t wear perfumes and other kinds of things.  They also avoided eating foods that might make them stink, like garlic. 

The researchers actually say that these steps were taken in the paper. So, in other words, they attempted to control for the possibility that the women were making themselves more attractive.

Instead, what we think is happening is that it's actually some other chemical which is in some way stimulating the men, but we don't actually know what it yet. 

That will come next, I guess.

January 2010