---
title: Does how women perceive men change during the menstrual cycle?
description: Yes. During the high-fertility phase of the cycle, women showed an enhanced ability to notice male characteristics and remember stereotypical information abou
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/person-perception-across-the-menstrual-cycle-hormonal-influences-on-social-2002/
---

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- Does how women perceive men change during the menstrual cycle?

Study, 2002

# Does how women perceive men change during the menstrual cycle?

Yes. During the high-fertility phase of the cycle, women showed an enhanced ability to notice male characteristics and remember stereotypical information about men.

 Moderate study design

Women (sample size not specified)

## What they did

Women completed perception and memory tasks to see if they could categorize men and remember male-related information differently at different phases of their cycle.

## What they found

During the phase of high conception risk, women displayed an enhanced ability both to categorize men and to access stereotypic material about men from memory.

## What it means for you

The menstrual cycle affects how women process information about men at a cognitive level. The study abstract does not specify how many women participated, their age, or how long the study lasted.

## About the study

Original title Person perception across the menstrual cycle: hormonal influences on social-cognitive functioning Authors Macrae CN, Alnwick KA, Milne AB et al. Journal Psychological science Year 2002 Study design Study Read the paper [doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00493](https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00493)

## Topics

[Cognition, concentration and memory](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-cognition/)[Stigma, attitudes and culture](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-stigma-culture/)

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