Cognitive and hormonal factors affecting coital frequency

Abstract

Sexual behavior of female undergraduates was assessed by daily questionnaires. 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 encounters 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 days 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.