Original Article
Hormones and social monitoring: Menstrual cycle shifts in progesterone underlie women's sensitivity to social information

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.09.001Get rights and content

Abstract

During the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, women's bodies prepare themselves for possible pregnancy and this preparation includes a dramatic increase in progesterone. This increase in progesterone may underlie a variety of functionally relevant psychological changes designed to help women overcome challenges historically encountered during pregnancy (e.g., warding off social threats and recruiting allies). This paper reports data supporting the hypothesis that increases in progesterone during the luteal phase underlie heightened levels of social monitoring—that is, heightened sensitivity to social cues indicating the presence of social opportunity or threat. Increases in progesterone during the luteal phase were associated with increased accuracy in decoding facial expressions (Study 1) and increased attention to social stimuli (Study 2). Findings suggest that increases in progesterone during the luteal phase may be linked functionally with low-level perceptual attunements that help women effectively navigate their social world.

Section snippets

Luteal phase increases in progesterone prepare the body for pregnancy

The luteal phase of a woman's menstrual cycle (the period immediately following ovulation and lasting until the onset of menstruation) is marked by her body's preparation for possible pregnancy. During this time, the dominant follicle turns into the corpus luteum, the endometrium thickens, and body temperature increases—all to promote the growth of a fertilized egg (Gilbert, 2000). Notably, these changes occur regardless of whether conception has actually occurred. This is consistent with the

Progesterone and social monitoring

Avoiding social threats and nurturing social alliances require a high degree of sensitivity to the social cues displayed by other people. Accordingly, heightened levels of progesterone during the luteal phase may promote early-stage perceptual attunements to a range of social cues. In line with this reasoning, we tested the hypothesis that progesterone may be a physiological catalyst for the activation of what Gardner and colleagues have termed the social monitoring system (Gardner et al., 2000

Overview of the current research

The current research extends this literature in a number of ways. First, some previous studies are limited by the fact that they did not examine the role of progesterone, instead focusing on effects of pregnancy or on differences between women in the luteal versus follicular phases. The current studies directly examined the role of progesterone using actuarial hormone estimates (Study 1) and direct salivary assays (Study 2). Second, the current studies focused on quick, initial perceptions of

Study 1

A primary function of the social monitoring system is to rapidly detect and decode social cues. Prior research demonstrates that activation of the social monitoring system is accompanied by heightened accuracy in identifying other people's facial expressions (Pickett et al., 2004). Thus, Study 1 tested the hypothesis that increases in progesterone during the luteal phase would be associated with accuracy on a facial expression identification task.

Study 2

A key aspect of the social monitoring system is attention to socially relevant information (Gardner et al., 2000). In order to identify the intentions of other people, one must attend carefully to the social cues they display. Thus, in Study 2, women completed a visual cueing task that assessed low-level biases in attention. To address the limitations of Study 1, we measured attention to both positive and negative social stimuli (happy and angry faces), as well as non-social stimuli (household

General discussion

Across two studies, heightened luteal phase progesterone levels were associated with increased accuracy in decoding others' facial expressions (Study 1) and increased attention to social stimuli (Study 2). Both processes reflect activation of the social monitoring system, which attunes individuals to the opportunities and threats afforded by other people. These findings suggest that people's perceptual sensitivity to social information is guided, in part, by naturally occurring endocrinological

Supplementary Materials

The following are the supplementary data to this article.

Maner and Miller Study1.

Maner and Miller Study2.

Data Download Information.

Supplementary Materials

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.09.001

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      Compared to the mid-cycle estradiol peak, a broader peak of progesterone (combined with a smaller peak of estradiol) occurs approximately one week following ovulation in the mid-luteal phase and is necessary for facilitating implantation of a fertilized egg. Although research in this area is particularly mixed, higher progesterone is associated with reduced sexual motivation, increased sensitivity to social cues, and prosocial behavior signaling affiliation motivation (Burkart et al., 2014; Lobmaier et al., 2019; Maner & Miller, 2014; Roney & Simmons, 2016; Sellitto & Kalenscher, 2022). Within the framework of hormones as mediators of life-history tradeoffs, high progesterone has been associated with reduced competitive behavior but also decreased investment in one’s own social and financial advancement (Eisenbruch & Roney, 2016; Pearson & Schipper, 2013; for review, Welling & Burris, 2019).

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    The data from these studies are published as a supporting online material to this paper and are available at http://psy.fsu.edu/~manerlab/pdfmail.php. This research was supported by National Science Foundation Grant BCS-1122785 awarded to the first author.

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