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Ovulatory Shifts in Psychology

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Synonyms

Hormones; Menstruation; Ovulation; Ovulatory cycle; Psychology of the ovulatory cycle

Definition

Hormones that induce ovulation and the changes incurred in human behavior.

Introduction

Though the human ovulatory cycle is incredibly complex, it should come as no surprise that it shares striking similarities to other apes. The exact length varies depending on the individual, but the average ovulatory cycle lasts about 28 days. During the length of a cycle, a female goes through three distinct phases: menses, follicular, and luteal. Ovulation typically occurs halfway through the cycle, between the follicular and luteal phases (with the length of the follicular phase being the more variable of the two). The term peak fertility refers to a small window (usually thought to be anywhere between 2 and 6 days) when a female’s conception rate goes up. In some species (including some distant ancestors like baboons), sexual swellingis a visual indicator that a female is approaching...

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References

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Correspondence to Rachael Carmen .

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Carmen, R., Dillon, H. (2019). Ovulatory Shifts in Psychology. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1883-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1883-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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