Does Interest in Sex Peak at Mid-Cycle in Ovulatory Menstrual Cycles of Healthy, Community-Dwelling Women? An 11-month Prospective Observational Study

Allison B. Macbeth; Azita Goshtasebi; G. William Mercer; Jerilynn C. Prior

doi:10.1080/23293691.2021.1901519

Sexual Health · Sexual Function

Does Interest in Sex Peak at Mid-Cycle in Ovulatory Menstrual Cycles of Healthy, Community-Dwelling Women? An 11-month Prospective Observational Study

Macbeth AB, Goshtasebi A, Mercer GW, Prior JC

Published April 3, 2021 Women's Reproductive Health, 8(2), 79-91

DOI 10.1080/23293691.2021.1901519

Abstract

Women's interest in sex is asserted to increase at the mid-cycle pre-ovulatory estradiol peak. We explored this belief in healthy, spontaneously normally menstruating/ovulating women. Women recorded "interest in sex" in a daily diary; validated Quantitative Basal Temperature analysis documented ovulation. Interest in sex showed no mid-cycle peak in 61 normal-weight, nonsmoking women, ages 33.7 ± 5.6 years, over a mean of 311 consecutive days. The cycle-plotted diary "self-worth" factor (including feelings of energy, interest in sex) also showed no mid-cycle peak. Thus, interest in sex is related more strongly to women's feelings/experiences than to hormones, challenging deterministic or sex-hormone-dependent cultural and sociobiological understandings.

Topics

Sexual Health › Sexual Function › Libido and Desire · Menstrual Cycle › Cycle Physiology › Hormonal Regulation · Reproductive Endocrinology › Ovarian Hormones › Estrogen

Allison B. Macbeth, Azita Goshtasebi, G. William Mercer, Jerilynn C. Prior

A Macbeth, A Goshtasebi, J Prior

DOI 10.1080/23293691.2021.1901519 10.1080/23293691.2021.1901519 Macbeth et al. 2021, Macbeth 2021

Does Interest in Sex Peak at Mid-Cycle in Ovulatory Menstrual Cycles of Healthy, Community-Dwelling Women? An 11-month Prospective Observational Study

Abstract

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