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SWPS University - Main page

Ovulation enhances originality of ideas

Research indicates that creativity of women is linked with ovulation. A study carried out by researchers from SWPS University's Center for Research on Biological Basis of Social Behavior, Katarzyna Gałasińska-Grygorczuk, M.A. and Aleksandra Szymków-Sudziarska, Ph.D. / Associate Professor provides evidence for this phenomenon.

#ovulation #ovulation cycle #creativity #enhancing creativity

What we researched:

  • The aim of this project was to replicate a previous study, which investigated enhanced creative potential of fertile women. The hypotheses was based on the signaling theory, which states that creativity may have evolved as a signal for mates and may be a mental ornament in women, related to the process of sexual selection. Therefore, researchers wanted to find out whether creative indeed increases during ovulation.

How we did it:

  • The researchers tested creative divergent thinking and creative convergent thinking in 72 women of a reproductive age (19-35) during different phases of the ovulation cycle.

Why is it important:

  • The study replicated the effect of enhanced originality of ideas among women during ovulation. It suggests that originality in divergent creativity is a plausible candidate for mental ornamentation in women. Being boosted during the fertile phase of the cycle, originality presumably increases mate attraction, potentially leading to conception. Nevertheless, it may also promote intrasexual competition to discourage competitors. More contexts should be studied to confirm the hypothesis on the signaling role of creativity.

"We found women’s ideas to be more original during ovulation compared to non-fertile phases of the ovulatory cycle."