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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Examining Changes in HRV and Emotion Following Artmaking with Three Different Art Materials
Published on: January 11, 2020
Effects of menstrual cycle phase on ratings of implicitly erotic art
Jeffrey M Rudski1, Lauren R Bernstein, Joy E Mitchell
1Department of Psychology, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA 18104, USA. rudski@muhlenberg.edu
Abstract:
Women's perceptions of and responses to explicitly erotic stimuli have been shown to vary across the menstrual cycle. The present study examined responses to implicit eroticism. A total of 83 women provided reactions to paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe in 6 day intervals over the course of 1 month. Among freely cycling women (n = 37), 31% of their descriptions included sexual themes during the first half of their cycle, dropping to 9% of descriptions in the second half. In women using oral contraceptives (n = 46), there was no significant difference in descriptions across the cycle (13% in the first half vs. 17% in the second half). Results were discussed in terms of evolutionary psychology and social-cognitive perspectives on the relationships between hormonal fluctuations and sexuality.
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