Lab study, 2007
Do female monkeys prefer to look at male faces during fertile times of the menstrual cycle?
Yes, but only for rhesus monkey faces. During the fertile period, female monkeys looked longer at male rhesus monkey faces compared to female faces, but not at human or chimpanzee faces.
What they did
Four female rhesus monkeys participated in two tasks. In one task, they touched a button to view face images and the length of time they held the button showed how long they looked at each face. In another task, they were rewarded for picking out new faces. Monkeys were tested 5 days a week across their menstrual cycle. Hormone levels were measured every other day.
What they found
Two of the four monkeys were cycling during the study. In the viewing preference task, these two cycling monkeys looked longer at male rhesus monkey faces than female faces during the fertile period around ovulation. This effect was specific to rhesus monkey faces and did not occur for human or chimpanzee faces. The other task showed no cycle-related differences.
What it means for you
Female rhesus monkeys may have a natural preference for male faces during fertile times, which could help guide reproduction. However, the sample is very small (only 4 monkeys, with only 2 cycling), and the effect is specific to their own species. It is unclear how broadly this applies.
4
female rhesus monkeys studied
2
monkeys cycling during testing
ovulation peak
cycle phase when male preference appeared
About the study
- Original title
- Effects of the menstrual cycle on looking preferences for faces in female rhesus monkeys
- Authors
- Lacreuse A, Martin-Malivel J, Lange HS et al.
- Journal
- Animal cognition
- Year
- 2007
- Study design
- Lab study
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1007/s10071-006-0041-8
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