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Birth Control Pills Affect Women's Taste in Men: Scientific American
See Inside [h=2]Birth Control Pills Affect Women's Taste in Men[/h] How synthetic hormones change desire in women--and their choice in a mate
By Melinda Wenner | Friday, December 5, 2008 |
This year 2.25 million Americans will get marriedand a million will get divorced. Could birth control be to blame for some of these breakups? Recent research suggests that the contraceptive pillwhich prevents women from ovulating by fooling their body into believing it is pregnantcould affect which types of men women desire. Going on or off the pill during a relationship, therefore, may tempt a woman away from her man.
Its all about scent. Hidden in a mans smell are clues about his major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes, which play an important role in immune system surveillance. Studies suggest that females prefer the scent of males whose MHC genes differ from their own, a preference that has probably evolved because it helps offspring survive: couples with different MHC genes are less likely to be related to each other than couples with similar genes are, and their children are born with more varied MHC profiles and thus more robust immune systems.
A study published in August in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, however, suggests that women on the pill undergo a shift in preference toward men who share similar MHC genes. The female subjects were more likely to rate these genetically similar mens scents (via a T-shirt the men had worn for two nights) as pleasant and desirable after they went on the pill as compared with before. Although no one knows why the pill affects attraction, some scientists believe that pregnancyor in this case, the hormonal changes that mimic pregnancydraws women toward nurturing relatives.
Women who start or stop taking the pill, then, may be in for some relationship problems. A study published last year in Psychological Science found that women paired with MHC-similar men are less sexually satisfied and more likely to cheat on their partners than women paired with MHC-dissimilar men. So a woman on the pill, for example, might be more likely to start dating a MHC-similar man, but he could ultimately leave her less sexually satisfied. Then if she goes off the pill during the relationship, the accompanying hormonal changes will draw her even more strongly toward more MHC-dissimilar men. These immune genes may have a powerful effect in terms of how well relationships are cemented, says University of Liverpool psychologist Craig Roberts, co-author of the August paper.
Note: This article was originally published with the title, "A Tough Pill to Swallow".
Scientific American is a trademark of Scientific American, Inc., used with permission
© 2011 Scientific American, a Division of Nature America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Birth Control Pills Affect Women's Taste in Men: Scientific American
See Inside [h=2]Birth Control Pills Affect Women's Taste in Men[/h] How synthetic hormones change desire in women--and their choice in a mateBy Melinda Wenner | Friday, December 5, 2008 |
This year 2.25 million Americans will get marriedand a million will get divorced. Could birth control be to blame for some of these breakups? Recent research suggests that the contraceptive pillwhich prevents women from ovulating by fooling their body into believing it is pregnantcould affect which types of men women desire. Going on or off the pill during a relationship, therefore, may tempt a woman away from her man.
Its all about scent. Hidden in a mans smell are clues about his major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes, which play an important role in immune system surveillance. Studies suggest that females prefer the scent of males whose MHC genes differ from their own, a preference that has probably evolved because it helps offspring survive: couples with different MHC genes are less likely to be related to each other than couples with similar genes are, and their children are born with more varied MHC profiles and thus more robust immune systems.
A study published in August in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, however, suggests that women on the pill undergo a shift in preference toward men who share similar MHC genes. The female subjects were more likely to rate these genetically similar mens scents (via a T-shirt the men had worn for two nights) as pleasant and desirable after they went on the pill as compared with before. Although no one knows why the pill affects attraction, some scientists believe that pregnancyor in this case, the hormonal changes that mimic pregnancydraws women toward nurturing relatives.
Women who start or stop taking the pill, then, may be in for some relationship problems. A study published last year in Psychological Science found that women paired with MHC-similar men are less sexually satisfied and more likely to cheat on their partners than women paired with MHC-dissimilar men. So a woman on the pill, for example, might be more likely to start dating a MHC-similar man, but he could ultimately leave her less sexually satisfied. Then if she goes off the pill during the relationship, the accompanying hormonal changes will draw her even more strongly toward more MHC-dissimilar men. These immune genes may have a powerful effect in terms of how well relationships are cemented, says University of Liverpool psychologist Craig Roberts, co-author of the August paper.
Note: This article was originally published with the title, "A Tough Pill to Swallow".
Scientific American is a trademark of Scientific American, Inc., used with permission
© 2011 Scientific American, a Division of Nature America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
