---
title: Is PMS as common and severe as most people believe, or is this belief shaped by culture rather than science?
description: This paper argues that serious premenstrual mental or behavioural problems are actually uncommon, but the wider belief that PMS badly affects most women persi
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/the-menstrual-cycle-science-and-femininity-assumptions-underlying-menstrual-1995/
---

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- Is PMS as common and severe as most people believe, or is this belief shaped by culture rather than science?

Survey study, 1995

# Is PMS as common and severe as most people believe, or is this belief shaped by culture rather than science?

This paper argues that serious premenstrual mental or behavioural problems are actually uncommon, but the wider belief that PMS badly affects most women persists anyway, partly because of cultural attitudes rather than solid evidence.

 Early or limited evidence

No patients studied. The paper discusses menstrual cycle research and popular attitudes in general.

## What they did

This is a discussion paper, not a lab or clinical study. The author looks at how popular ideas about the menstrual cycle have shaped scientific research on PMS, and argues through analysis rather than new data collection.

## What they found

The paper states that evidence suggests premenstrual cognitive, behavioural and emotional 'impairment' is relatively rare, yet the popular belief that PMS routinely harms many women is hard to shift. It concludes that mainstream menstrual cycle research has been shaped by what it calls misogynist mythology, held by some women as well as men, linked to differences in whose knowledge claims are taken seriously.

## What it means for you

The takeaway is that some common assumptions about PMS in research and society may reflect social bias rather than how often or how badly symptoms actually occur. This is an opinion and analysis piece, not a study of real patients, so it gives no numbers on symptoms and cannot prove how common severe PMS actually is.

## About the study

Original title The menstrual cycle, science and femininity: assumptions underlying menstrual cycle research Authors Nicolson P Journal Social science & medicine (1982) Year 1995 Study design Survey study What was tested None. This is a critical analysis of existing research and cultural beliefs, not a test of any treatment. Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(95)00044-8](https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(95)00044-8)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Stigma, attitudes and culture](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-stigma-culture/)

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Randomised trial, 2006

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