Researchers from the University of South Florida have reported that women who use hormonal contraceptives tend to rate their own romantic and social qualities more positively than their naturally cycling peers. The pattern emerged across three evaluations and is published in the journal Human Nature.
The study centres on mate value, the overall set of traits that make someone attractive as a partner, from fertility cues to social skills, loyalty and parenting potential. People often seek partners whose mate value roughly matches their own.
Hormonal contraceptives suppress natural fertility by altering ovarian hormones, which could lower perceived mate value. Yet synthetic hormones such as progesterone and estradiol can bind to brain receptors and mimic states that promote social bonding and nurturance, potentially boosting self-perceived desirability.
In the first evaluation, 94 unmarried undergraduate women were recruited. Participants reported whether they used a hormonal contraceptive—such as the pill, patch or implant—and researchers estimated non-users’ natural conception risk on the day of testing. They completed a widely used mating-success survey that asks how likely others they like would reciprocate those feelings.
Researchers found that hormonal-contraceptive users reported higher self-perceived mating success than naturally cycling peers. This association remained after adjusting for the non-users’ fertility fluctuations.
A second evaluation followed 91 newly married women over two years, with annual assessments. At each visit, participants reported contraceptive use and completed the same mating-success survey, and questions implying outside sexual pursuit were removed.
The study also asked couples to report how often they had sex in the previous month. The results mirrored the first study: married women on hormonal birth control consistently perceived greater mating success than those not using contraception, even when controlling for sexual activity.
A third evaluation involved 178 unmarried university students attending a speed-dating event. They completed a 29-trait survey covering both short-term desirability and long-term traits like loyalty and educational ambition. Once again, contraceptive users rated themselves more positively across the trait spectrum.
Most contraceptive users in this group cited non-pregnancy reasons for taking birth control, such as acne management or cycle regulation. When data from all three evaluations were pooled with results from an earlier independent study, the overall analysis pointed to a positive link between hormonal contraceptive use and self-perceived mate value.
However, researchers caution that the findings are observational and cannot prove causation. They note that experimental designs, including random assignment to hormonal contraceptives or placebo, are needed to test causality and that the study did not separate by contraceptive formulation.
The study, Hormonal Contraceptives and Women’s Mate-Value-Related Traits and Outcomes, was led by Juliana E. French with collaborators Elizabeth Barron, Emma E. Altgelt, Maryanne Fisher and Andrea L. Meltzer.
