The ovulatory shift hypothesis is the theory that women experience evolutionarily adaptive changes in subconscious thoughts and behaviors related to mating across the ovulatory cycle.
It proposes that hormonal changes across the cycle cause women, when they are most likely to get pregnant, to be more attracted to traits in potential short-term male sexual partners that indicate high genetic quality, leading to greater reproductive success. Some of these proposed traits are physical features like symmetry and masculinity, while others are personality traits like dominance and creativity, and others are genetic traits like compatible major histocompatibility complex gene profiles. The theory also proposes that women's behavior may change during the most fertile time in their ovulatory cycle. At high fertility, women may experience increased sexual desire, consume fewer calories, become more physically active, avoid risky situations, avoid male relatives, dress more provocatively, become more competitive with other women, flirt with men more frequently, and experience decreased satisfaction with their current romantic partner. The theory is based on the principles of evolutionary psychology and has been extensively researched by scientists in the fields of psychology, biological anthropology, and evolutionary biology.
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It proposes that hormonal changes across the cycle cause women, when they are most likely to get pregnant, to be more attracted to traits in potential short-term male sexual partners that indicate high genetic quality, leading to greater reproductive success. Some of these proposed traits are physical features like symmetry and masculinity, while others are personality traits like dominance and creativity, and others are genetic traits like compatible major histocompatibility complex gene profiles. The theory also proposes that women's behavior may change during the most fertile time in their ovulatory cycle. At high fertility, women may experience increased sexual desire, consume fewer calories, become more physically active, avoid risky situations, avoid male relatives, dress more provocatively, become more competitive with other women, flirt with men more frequently, and experience decreased satisfaction with their current romantic partner. The theory is based on the principles of evolutionary psychology and has been extensively researched by scientists in the fields of psychology, biological anthropology, and evolutionary biology.
Source
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