SHEFFIELD, England, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Oral contraceptives may affect a woman's choice of mate away from rugged types to more boyish men, British researchers said.
Dr. Alverne and Dr. Virpi Lumma of the University of Sheffield in England reviewed and research supporting the conclusion that use of the pill by women disrupted their variation in mate preferences across their menstrual cycle.
Ovulating women exhibit a preference for more masculine male features, are particularly attracted to men showing dominance and male-male competitiveness and prefer partners that are genetically dissimilar to themselves.
The pill alters the hormonal fluctuations associated with the menstrual cycle and essentially mimics the more steady hormonal conditions associated with pregnancy.
"Although mate choice studies in humans have routinely recorded pill use during the last decade to control for its confounding effects, little effort has been invested in understanding the consequences of such effects of the pill," Alvergne said in a statement.
Women taking the pill do not exhibit the ovulation-specific attraction to genetically dissimilar partners and this is significant because there is evidence suggesting that genetic similarity between couples might be linked with infertility, the study said.
The findings are published in the journal Trends of Ecology and Evolution.
