Female Sexual Desire, Response, and Activity Across the Menstrual Cycle

The objective of the present study was to investigate changes in sexual desire, lubrication, and sexual activity across the menstrual cycle. It was expected that, in addition to a small mid-cycle increase, women would show a high degree of variability in whether and in what phase of the menstrual cycle they report changes in these variables. A total of n = 585 women aged 18-40 provided complete data on an online survey in which they were asked whether they notice changes across the menstrual cycle in sexual desire, desire to masturbate, lubrication, and frequency of having sex, and if they do, during which phase of the cycle they experience an increase. Results suggest that an increase in sexual desire, and especially lubrication, were somewhat more common during the ovulatory phase. However, as hypothesized, across all four variables, there was a high degree of variability in the specific cycle phase in which participants reported experiencing increases. In some cases, age, having a partner, and hormonal contraception moderated menstrual cycle phase increases in these variables. These results confirm that women differ significantly in whether and when, during the menstrual cycle, they experience increases in sexual desire, lubrication, and sexual activity.