Survey study, 2025
Does which phase of your menstrual cycle you are in change how you react to positive and negative things?
Yes. Women in the late follicular phase (when estradiol is high) approached positive things more quickly. Women in the mid-luteal phase (when progesterone is high) avoided negative things more quickly. These differences showed up in both behavior and brain activity.
What they did
A total of 27 naturally cycling women were tested during three different phases of their menstrual cycle: early follicular, late follicular, and mid-luteal. Researchers measured how quickly they approached positive things and avoided negative things, and they recorded brain electrical activity while women performed this task.
What they found
Women in the late follicular phase approached positive stimuli more quickly, and brain activity was smallest during approach reactions. Women in the mid-luteal phase avoided negative stimuli more quickly, and brain activity was smallest during avoidance reactions. Estradiol predicted approach behavior and progesterone predicted avoidance behavior. Different menstrual cycle phases use different amounts of brain resources for processing emotional information, influenced by these hormones.
What it means for you
Hormone levels during the menstrual cycle change how women respond to positive and negative things, with different hormones driving approach versus avoidance. This explains how menstrual cycle hormones influence behavior and emotions. The main limitations are the very small sample (27 women) and that this was a laboratory task that may not reflect real-world behavior.
27
Women studied
About the study
- Original title
- Effects of menstrual cycle phases on approach-avoidance behaviors in women: a behavioral and event-related potentials study
- Authors
- Li D, Xu C, Wang X
- Journal
- BMC psychology
- Year
- 2025
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 27
- What was tested
- None. This was an observational study of how cycle phases relate to behavior and brain activity.
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02660-w