---
title: Do our expectations about when we are in our menstrual cycle affect what symptoms we report?
description: Yes. Women told they were premenstrual reported more symptoms than women told they were intermenstrual. However, women with a history of reporting many premen
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/effects-of-expectations-and-bodily-sensations-on-self-reports-of-premenstrual-1992/
---

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- Do our expectations about when we are in our menstrual cycle affect what symptoms we report?

Lab study, 1992

# Do our expectations about when we are in our menstrual cycle affect what symptoms we report?

Yes. Women told they were premenstrual reported more symptoms than women told they were intermenstrual. However, women with a history of reporting many premenstrual symptoms still reported more symptoms during their actual premenstrual phase, regardless of what they were told.

 Moderate study design

Women during premenstrual and intermenstrual phases of their cycle

## What they did

Researchers told women they were either premenstrual or intermenstrual based on a fake test. They studied 48 women during their premenstrual phase in one experiment, and 82 women during either premenstrual or intermenstrual phases in a second experiment. Before the experiments, they asked women to report their past premenstrual symptoms.

## What they found

Women told they were premenstrual reported more symptoms than women told they were intermenstrual. Women who had reported many premenstrual symptoms in the past reported more symptoms during their actual premenstrual phase in the lab, regardless of what the test told them.

## What it means for you

Expectations can influence what symptoms you notice and report, but this doesn't mean all premenstrual symptoms are imaginary. Some women really do experience worse symptoms as they approach their period. The main limit is that this was done in a lab setting, not in real life.

48

women in first experiment

82

women in second experiment

## About the study

Original title Effects of Expectations and Bodily Sensations on Self-Reports of Premenstrual Symptoms Authors Pamela Kato Klebanov, John B. Jemmott Journal Psychology of Women Quarterly Year 1992 Study design Lab study Participants 82 What was tested Fake test feedback saying participant was premenstrual or intermenstrual Read the paper [doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1992.tb00256.x](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1992.tb00256.x)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)

Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits.

Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

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Case-control study, 2026

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Survey study, 2025

Does PMDD or PMS affect quality of life?

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