Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

During Ovulation

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

  • 108 Accesses

Synonyms

Estrus; Fertile window

Definition

Ovulation occurs when an egg is released from the ovaries and becomes available for fertilization.

Introduction

Conception is most likely to occur within a window of time ending on the day of ovulation (Wilcox et al. 1995). During this time period, evolutionarily advantageous, or sometimes disadvantageous, circumstances arise – for both the woman ovulating and the individuals interacting with the woman who is ovulating.

During Ovulation

A window of peak fertility is a time when the female member of the species makes significant changes – explicitly or implicitly – to her behavior to increase her odds of conceiving. For example, Beall and Tracy (2013) found that women who were at high conception risk were three and a half times more likely to wear a red or pink shirt than women who were at low conception risk. Present in nonhuman primates and once present in early humans, ovulation is advertised through various mechanisms of coloration –...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Antfolk, J., Lieberman, D., Albrecht, A., & Santtila, P. (2014). The self-regulation effect of fertility status on inbreeding aversion: When fertile, disgust increases more in response to descriptions of one’s own than of others’ inbreeding. Evolutionary Psychology, 12(3). doi:10.1177/147470491401200308

    Google Scholar 

  • Beall, A. T., & Tracy, J. L. (2013). Women are more likely to wear red or pink at peak fertility. Psychological Science, 24(9), 1837–1841. doi:10.1177/0956797613476045.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cobey, K. D., Buunk, A. P., Pollet, T. V., Klipping, C., & Roberts, S. C. (2013). Men perceive their female partners, and themselves, as more attractive around ovulation. Biological Psychology, 94(3), 513–516. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2013.09.011.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gangestad, S. W., Thornhill, R., & Garver, C. E. (2002). Changes in women’s sexual interests and their partners’ mate-retention tactics across the menstrual cycle: Evidence for shifting conflicts of interest. Proceedings of the Biological Sciences, 269(1494), 975–982. doi:10.1098/rspb.2001.1952.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, B. C., Hahn, A. C., Fisher, C. I., Wincenciak, J., Kandrik, M., Roberts, S. C., … DeBruine, L. M. (2015). Facial coloration tracks changes in women’s estradiol. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 56, 29–34. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.02.021

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, G., Tybur, J. M., & Jordan, B. D. (2007). Ovulatory cycle effects on tip earnings by lap dancers: Economic evidence for human estrus?☆. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28(6), 375–381. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.06.002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petralia, S. M., & Gallup, G. G. (2002). Effects of a sexual assault scenario on handgrip strength across the menstrual cycle. Evolution and Human Behavior, 23, 3–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, S. C., Cobey, K. D., Klapilova, K., & Havlicek, J. (2013). An evolutionary approach offers a fresh perspective on the relationship between oral contraception and sexual desire. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42(8), 1369–1375. doi:10.1007/s10508-013-0126-9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thornhill, R., Chapman, J. F., & Gangestad, S. W. (2013). Women’s preferences for men’s scents associated with testosterone and cortisol levels: Patterns across the ovulatory cycle. Evolution and Human Behavior, 34(3), 216–221. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.01.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilcox, A. J., Weinberg, C. R., & Baird, D. D. (1995). Timing of sexual intercourse in relation to ovulation. The New England Journal of Medicine, 333(23), 1518–1521.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Lauren Summerville

Authors
  1. Lauren Summerville
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lauren Summerville .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

About this entry

Cite this entry

Summerville, L. (2016). During Ovulation. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2246-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2246-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation