Fertile women dress to impress?

[rwp]

This article (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061010/od_nm/science_ovulation_odd_dc;_ylt=AmLHZt6WewATS.scIaMB P1HtiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM-) is an example of another study done with the results in mind before even beginning.

[Katana]

Haselton's team had earlier reported that women were more likely to flirt and look at attractive men when ovulating.

It's nice to know these folks are devoting themselves to such valuable research. :rolleyes:

Having said that, on the off-chance that I was missing something, I searched the journal for the study. It isn't in November's issue, and I didn't find it in any going back a couple of years. Perhaps when the next issue of the journal, presumably the one containing this study,is published, I will change my tune.

[Loss Leader]

The results of this study seem to comport with other research that I have seen regarding changes in preferences and behavior during the menstual cycle. According to this article (http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bpl/psci/2004/00000015/00000003/art00011), women prefer more angular, masculine faces when they're ovulating.

[Starthinker]

I'd settle for an unfertile woman at this point.

[trvlr2]

This article (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061010/od_nm/science_ovulation_odd_dc;_ylt=AmLHZt6WewATS.scIaMB P1HtiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM-) is an example of another study done with the results in mind before even beginning.

Impress each other,for sure!:D

[rwp]

The researchers asked 42 men and women, some older than the volunteers, to assess these photographs by asking, "In what photo is the person trying to look more attractive?"

The judges chose the photograph taken during the women's fertile phases 60 percent of the time, Haselton said. "This is well beyond chance. They were pretty consistent," she said.

"One of the things we found pretty interesting is that people sort of have their personal style, almost like their uniform," she added. "The women would show up to the lab wearing something pretty close to what they wore before, but embellished."

For example, one woman wore loose knit leggings and a tank top in both photos. "In her high fertility photograph, she would be wearing a very pretty tank top and she was wearing more jewelry. The difference was quite subtle," Haselton said.

The fertile women did not necessarily dress more provocatively, Haselton noted. "We did see a little bit more skin. It was my impression that the women were just dressing a little bit more fashionably but not sexier."

This is not a good way to come to the conclusion that "Women dress to impress when they are at their most fertile". What do you do with the other 40% of the data? Throw it out?

[HeavyAaron]

This is not a good way to come to the conclusion that "Women dress to impress when they are at their most fertile". What do you do with the other 40% of the data? Throw it out?

Of course not. It's simply that the sample size was great enough to distinguish 60% from 50% with significance. But it shows the effect is a small one.

Aaron

[Cuddles]

Of course not. It's simply that the sample size was great enough to distinguish 60% from 50% with significance. But it shows the effect is a small one.

Aaron

It may not be that small. I thought the most fertile period is only about a week long, so the baseline would actually be 25% and not 50%.

[drkitten]

It may not be that small. I thought the most fertile period is only about a week long, so the baseline would actually be 25% and not 50%.

The way the study was done, the researchers had two photographs of each woman, one at the peak of fertility and one at the trough. So baseline would have been an even 50/50 split between the photographs.

This does, however, suggest several interesting followup studies. For example, if they had done weekly photographs (4 pictures per woman), is the effect that women dress more fashionably at the peak of their cycle (but there's no difference between the trough and the midpoints), less fashionably at the trough, or does it vary smoothly throughout?

[Araneus]

There seems to be an assumption that "fashionable" is a synonym for "attractive". Perhaps women are just less individualistic at their most fertile, or more likely to respond to social pressure?

[drkitten]

There seems to be an assumption that "fashionable" is a synonym for "attractive."


I don't think that's an assumption, but a conclusion of the researchers'.

You're right, of course -- the researchers asked the evaluators "In what photo is the person trying to look more attractive?" The statistics show that the ovulating women are "trying to look more attractive."

However, when the researchers inspected the photographs, they came to the conclusion that the way in which these women were trying to look "more attractive" is by being more fashionable, as opposed to (for example) just showing more skin or putting on more makeup or something.

[Araneus]

I don't think that's an assumption, but a conclusion of the researchers'.

That's really what I meant - an assumption that underlies the researchers' interpretation of the results, rather than an assumption inherent in the design of the experiment.

You're right, of course -- the researchers asked the evaluators "In what photo is the person trying to look more attractive?" The statistics show that the ovulating women are "trying to look more attractive."Right, and that seems to me to be a big flaw in the analysis. They are making a judgement about the intentions of the main subjects based on what is little more than a guess made by a second group of non-controlled subjects. Maybe the the difference was entirely down to the analysers rather than the analysed.

However, when the researchers inspected the photographs, they came to the conclusion that the way in which these women were trying to look "more attractive" is by being more fashionable, as opposed to (for example) just showing more skin or putting on more makeup or something.So based on the initial subjective guess by the analysers, the researchers draw their own subjective conclusion about the precise way in which the subjects are displaying the intentions already ascribed to them. This seems pretty dubious to me.

Also, is there any correlation at all between the menstrual cycles of different women? If there is such a correlation, then there may be the danger of a stacking effect whereby an external event such as a college social could disproportionally affect a number of subjects who were tested at the same time.