When women are at the lowest risk of conception from a single sexual encounter, they have been found to show preferences for men displaying cues associated with kinship, such as pheromones indicating a similar MHC genetic makeup and faces with higher levels of self-resemblance, as well as for cues of present health (for a review see Jones et al. Research on female mate preference shifts during luteal cycle phases goes some way to corroborating theories about mixed-mating strategies. Such a mating strategy explains the plethora of data found thus far on subconscious shifts in mate preference across the menstrual cycle, whereby genetically fit sexual partners are preferentially favored at a time of the cycle when copulation is most likely to lead to conception (i.e., the late follicular phase), while sexual partners offering the greatest long-term resource investment potential are favored at times less likely to lead to conception (i.e., the luteal phase). It has been proposed that, faced with this dilemma, women may seek to improve their overall long-term reproductive fitness by pursuing a mixed-mating strategy: preferring long-term partnerships with males willing to provide resources and parental support while being open to pursuing short-term sexual relationships with partners able to contribute superior genes to potential offspring ( Baker and Bellis 1994 Foerster et al. ![]() Choosing a mate of superior genetic health, therefore, may necessitate a trade-off: genetically fit partners are likely to bequeath offspring with superior genes but at the same time are less likely to provide long-term parental investment and support, which has a significant effect on offspring survival ( Hill and Hurtado 1996). 2002 Folstad and Karter 1992 Manning et al. For example, higher testosterone levels in utero, responsible for the development of masculine features, higher fluctuating testosterone levels in adulthood, and various male-typical behaviors, have also been found to correlate with greater relationship infidelity, a larger number of lifetime sexual partners, higher chances of divorce, lower biological sympathy responses to crying infants, as well as compromised immune function ( Booth and Dabbs 1993 Fleming et al. However, a negative relationship seems to exist between genetic fitness indicators such as these and behaviors associated with long-term parental investment. Mating with a partner who possesses such a robust gene set increases the odds that resulting offspring will be endowed with similar genetic advantages. Many of the traits outlined above, including masculinity, dominance, and facial symmetry, are believed to be acting as signals of underlying genetic competence, which is in turn responsible for physical health, developmental stability and superior immune-responsivity (for reviews see Rhodes 2006 Roberts and Little 2008). 2011) and to pay closer attention to cues signaling status ( Lens et al. Women in this cycle phase have also been found to be more accurate at judging male sexual orientation ( Rule et al. ![]() 2005) and high in creative intelligence ( Haselton and Miller 2006). 1995), as well as for men who are socially dominant ( Havlicek et al. 2004), for the scents of symmetrical men ( Gangestad and Thornhill 1998) and of men who have greater genetic (MHC) compatibility ( Wedekind et al. ![]() 1999), “typical male behavioral displays” ( Gangestad et al. 2006) and show increased preferences for sexually dimorphic (i.e., “masculine”) faces, masculine body shapes ( Little et al. For example, women in the late follicular phase of their cycle (in the days immediately preceding ovulation when risk of conception from a single act of intercourse is at its peak) report elevated levels of general attraction to men ( Garver-Apgar et al. While it has been known for some time that female sexual desire spikes in the days surrounding ovulation ( Regan 1996), it has recently been discovered that preferences for certain types of mating partners also co-vary with phases of the menstrual cycle. Hormonal changes associated with the human menstrual cycle have been found to have discernible effects on female sexual and mating behavior.
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