---
title: Does what women expect to feel affect their reports of menstrual cycle symptoms?
description: Yes. Women told the study focused on menstrual cycle symptoms reported significantly more negative psychological and physical symptoms during the premenstrual
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/menstrual-cycle-symptomatology-the-role-of-social-expectancy-and-experimental-1985/
---

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- Does what women expect to feel affect their reports of menstrual cycle symptoms?

Randomised trial, 1985

# Does what women expect to feel affect their reports of menstrual cycle symptoms?

Yes. Women told the study focused on menstrual cycle symptoms reported significantly more negative psychological and physical symptoms during the premenstrual and menstrual phases than women and men not given this information.

 Early or limited evidence

18 healthy women with regular menstrual cycles and 9 men

## What they did

18 healthy women with regular menstrual cycles and 9 men were randomly assigned. One group of women was told the study examined menstrual cycle symptoms. The other women and all men were not told this. Participants reported their psychological and physical symptoms throughout the menstrual cycle.

## What they found

Women told the study focused on menstrual cycle symptoms reported significantly more negative psychological and physical symptoms during the premenstrual and menstrual phases than the women and men not informed of this focus.

## What it means for you

People's expectations about what they should feel can influence both how they experience and what they report as symptoms. This is important when interpreting menstrual cycle symptom studies, though it does not mean the symptoms are not real.

18

Women participants

9

Men control group

## About the study

Original title Menstrual cycle symptomatology: the role of social expectancy and experimental demand characteristics Authors AuBuchon PG, Calhoun KS Journal Psychosomatic medicine Year 1985 Study design Randomised trial Participants 18 What was tested Being told versus not told that the study focused on menstrual cycle symptoms Read the paper [doi.org/10.1097/00006842-198501000-00004](https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-198501000-00004)

## Topics

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

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