Cognitive and hormonal factors accecting coital frequency

Abstract

Sexual behavior of female undergraduates was assessed by daily questionnaries. Of the 24 subjects, 13 were taking oral contraceptives ("pill" subjects) and 11 were using other methods of birth control ("nonpill" subjects), primarily diaphragm or male prophylactic methods. Three main results were obtained: (1) Intercourse rates were lowest during menstruation and highest immediately following menstruation. (2) Self-rated sexual arousal on a given day correlated with the type of heterosexual encouters on that day rather than with period of the menstrual cycle. (3) Pill subjects reported intercourse on more days than nonpill subjects but reported a lower number of intercourse sessions on day with intercourse than nonpill subjects. These results are interpreted within a general framework of sexual behavior which recognizes the sexual behavior of humans as primarily influenced by cultural and cognitive factors. The possibility is discussed that female sexual behavior might also be found to be affected by hormones if more sensitive measures were used.

PIP: Coital frequency was studied in 24 female undergraduate students. 13 of the women were using oral contraceptives (OC), while the remainder used more conventional methods of contraception. The frequency of coitus was lowest during menstruation and highest in the period immediately following menstruation. Self-rated sexual arousal was correlated with the type of sexual attention paid, rather than with a given day during the menstrual cycle. OC users reported coital activity on more days of the cycle than non-pill subjects, but engaged in coitus with less frequency on intercourse days than women using conventional contraception. The results indicate that hormones have very little influence on eroticism and sexual activity in humans. Rather, learning and cultural conditioning are the principal factors guiding human sexual activity.