Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/23163
Appears in Collections:Psychology Journal Articles
Peer Review Status: Refereed
Title: Partner choice, relationship satisfaction, and oral contraception: the congruency hypothesis
Author(s): Roberts, S Craig
Little, Anthony
Burriss, Robert
Cobey, Kelly D
Klapilova, Katerina
Havlicek, Jan
Jones, Benedict C
DeBruine, Lisa M
Petrie, Marion
Contact Email: craig.roberts@stir.ac.uk
Keywords: menstrual cycle
mate choice
romantic relationships
sexual desire
hormonal contraception
major histocompatibility complex
MHC
masculinity
Issue Date: Jul-2014
Date Deposited: 19-Apr-2016
Citation: Roberts SC, Little A, Burriss R, Cobey KD, Klapilova K, Havlicek J, Jones BC, DeBruine LM & Petrie M (2014) Partner choice, relationship satisfaction, and oral contraception: the congruency hypothesis. Psychological Science, 25 (7), pp. 1497-1503. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614532295
Abstract: Hormonal fluctuation across the menstrual cycle explains temporal variation in women’s judgment of the attractiveness of members of the opposite sex. Use of hormonal contraceptives could therefore influence both initial partner choice and, if contraceptive use subsequently changes, intrapair dynamics. Associations between hormonal contraceptive use and relationship satisfaction may thus be best understood by considering whether current use is congruent with use when relationships formed, rather than by considering current use alone. In the study reported here, we tested this congruency hypothesis in a survey of 365 couples. Controlling for potential confounds (including relationship duration, age, parenthood, and income), we found that congruency in current and previous hormonal contraceptive use, but not current use alone, predicted women’s sexual satisfaction with their partners. Congruency was not associated with women’s nonsexual satisfaction or with the satisfaction of their male partners. Our results provide empirical support for the congruency hypothesis and suggest that women’s sexual satisfaction is influenced by changes in partner preference associated with change in hormonal contraceptive use.
DOI Link: 10.1177/0956797614532295
Rights: Publisher policy allows this work to be made available in this repository. Published in Psychological Science July 2014 vol. 25 no. 7 1497-1503 by SAGE. The original publication is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797614532295

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
Roberts et al_Revised ms_final.pdfFulltext - Accepted Version245.73 kBAdobe PDFView/Open



This item is protected by original copyright



Items in the Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

The metadata of the records in the Repository are available under the CC0 public domain dedication: No Rights Reserved https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

If you believe that any material held in STORRE infringes copyright, please contact library@stir.ac.uk providing details and we will remove the Work from public display in STORRE and investigate your claim.