| Summary: | Social Value
Orientation (SVO) refers to an individual's preference for the division of
resources between the self and another person. Since evidence suggests that
hormones influence several facets of human social behavior, we asked whether
SVO might fluctuate across the female menstrual cycle. Using self-report data
obtained in two independent online studies, we show that cooperative
preferences, as indexed by SVO, are indeed significantly more prosocial in the
early follicular compared to the midluteal phase in naturally ovulating women.
Furthermore, when estimating hormonal variations from norm data, we found
estradiol, but not progesterone or testosterone, to be a significant predictor
of SVO across the menstrual cycle in both studies, with a negative correlation.
Our findings provide evidence that the willingness to cooperate varies across
the natural female menstrual cycle and highlight the potential of investigating
psychological effects of ovarian sex hormones.
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