Lab study, 1989
Do women's emotions change in a pattern matching the 'Ms. Hyde' idea during the premenstrual phase?
There is a pattern of women becoming more irritable and withdrawn before their period, but this change is much smaller than normal personality differences or the effects of stressful events.
What they did
22 women completed a questionnaire about emotions and a short diary every day for 49 consecutive days.
What they found
Emotions related to being friendly and outgoing varied with menstrual cycle position, but emotions about feeling shy did not. Women showed a pattern of becoming more irritable and withdrawn before their period. However, these premenstrual changes were much smaller than the normal differences between people or the effects of stress.
What it means for you
While there is a premenstrual pattern in some emotions, it is weaker than people's natural personality differences or the effects of stress. This suggests PMS emotional changes may be less dramatic than the popular 'Ms. Hyde' idea suggests. The study is small and lasted only 49 days.
22
women
49
consecutive days
868
total days of data analyzed
About the study
- Original title
- Will premenstrual syndrome produce a Ms. Hyde?: evidence from daily administrations of the Emotions Profile Index
- Authors
- Bisson C, Whissell C
- Journal
- Psychological reports
- Year
- 1989
- Study design
- Lab study
- Participants
- 22
- What was tested
- Daily emotion tracking
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1989.65.1.179
Topics
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