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An Evolutionary Functional Analysis of the Hormonal Predictors of Women’s Sexual Motivation

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The Evolution of Sexuality

Part of the book series: Evolutionary Psychology ((EVOLPSYCH))

Abstract

This chapter will review evidence for the functional roles of hormonal signals in the regulation of women’s sexual motivation. Hormone production fluctuates dramatically over time in association with events leading up to and following ovulation, and thus brain mechanisms can use circulating hormone concentrations as information regarding current reproductive states. In most mammalian females, current fecundity is positively signaled by the combination of high estrogen and low progesterone. Given the costs of sexual behavior, one can predict on functional grounds that sexual motivation should be higher when fecundity is higher. Consistent with this, estradiol has been found to positively predict indices of female sexual motivation across a wide range of mammalian species, whereas progesterone is usually a negative predictor. If women’s sexual motivation is similarly calibrated to fluctuations in fecundity, then one would likewise expect women’s libido to be positively and negatively predicted by fluctuations in estradiol and progesterone, respectively. Little previous research had assessed hormonal predictors of fluctuations in women’s sexual desire within natural menstrual cycles. Results from a recent study from my lab demonstrated that estradiol concentrations were, in fact, positive predictors of within-cycle fluctuations in women’s daily reports of sexual desire, whereas progesterone concentrations were even stronger negative predictors. These findings suggest that phylogenetically conserved brain mechanisms use hormonal signals to partially calibrate women’s sexual motivation to fluctuations in fecundity. Despite the evidence for the roles of hormonal signals, nonhormonal factors must be important as well, and additional research is necessary to further elucidate the functional design of brain mechanisms that calibrate sexual motivation to factors other than current fecundity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, 93106, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    James R. Roney PhD

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  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Ranald D. Hansen

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Roney, J. (2015). An Evolutionary Functional Analysis of the Hormonal Predictors of Women’s Sexual Motivation. In: Shackelford, T., Hansen, R. (eds) The Evolution of Sexuality. Evolutionary Psychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09384-0_6

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