Fertile women judge other women's looks more harshly

Main Category: Fertility
Article Date: 18 Feb 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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When women are at their most fertile they seem to judge the attractiveness of other women more harshly, say researchers in a new study. This could be a strategy to get the best mate and devalue the competition, says the researcher in this study.

It seems that intrasexual rivalry in humans is not just limited to men. Recent studies indicate that females are just as competitive during their most fertile days in their menstrual cycle.

In this study, heterosexual females were shown photos of faces. Maryanne Fisher, psychologist at York University, Toronto, Canada, found that when women were at the most fertile time during their menstrual cycle they seemed more critical about other women's attractiveness.

She said that there seems to be a great deal of evidence that women are not the kind-hearted, cooperative people we are brought up to believe. They can be indirectly aggressive.

Fisher said 'Rather than saying 'I'm going to beat that woman up because she looked at you', it's 'Oh my goodness, look how fat her ankles are!'

This backs the idea that women are competing for the best mate. 'When you're in a high fertility phase, you have to be more able to judge other women as potential rivals,' says Fisher.

In this study, 57 females were tested, there were males there as well, and they were also tested. They were shown colour photos of 35 female and 30 male faces. The people in the photos were told to have neutral expressions, wear a black smock and remove any accessories to help standardise the test.

Women in days 12-21 of their menstrual cycle, when their estrogen levels are the highest, rated other women's attractiveness much lower than when they were outside this phase of their cycle.

Fisher could not explain how this strategy could help a woman get the best mate. 'Does putting someone down make you feel better about yourself? Or does saying it to a male make her less attractive to him?'

She also added that this strategy could, in fact, work against the woman. A man may be put off by an ultra critical and competitive mate who uses such derogatory tactics.

It seems that women rate their own attractiveness more highly when they are at their most fertile.