Original Article OVULATORY SHIFTS IN MATING INTELLIGENCE

Women are fertile approximately one-sixth of the month (Wilcox, Weinberg, & Baird, 1995). Based on this fact, Thornhill and Gangestad (2008) suggest that women possess dual sexuality – estrous (i.e., reproductive/conceptive sexuality) and extended sexuality (i.e., non-reproductive/non-conceptive sexuality). Each type of sexuality is proposed to have its own function and, therefore, the current study sought to determine if women’s mating intelligence, the cognitive mechanisms necessary for mating and reproduction assessed with a self-report measure, varied with their conception probability and birth-control-usage. One hundred fifty-three women, 97 who were naturally cycling and 56 who reported using hormonal contraception, participated. It was found that only among naturally cycling women did conception probability significantly positively correlate with mating intelligence and courtship display and commitment skepticism, two subscales of mating intelligence. Implications are discussed