Air date: September 5, 2010

Host: Jeremy Shere, PhD

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Primary Care segments are presented
by IU Health Physicians.

Did you Know? is presented by Wishard Health Services, becoming Eskenazi Health in 2014.

I’m Jeremy Shere.

Did you know that women who are ovulating are more likely to wear clingy, revealing clothes?

That’s according to a study of 100 women by researchers at the University of Minnesota.

They showed the subjects, who were at various stages of their menstrual cycle, pictures of generically attractive and unattractive women. Some of the women in the pictures were said to live nearby, others far away.

The women participating in the study were then asked to choose clothes to buy from a wide assortment of outfits.

Those who were ovulating and had been shown photos of attractive women living nearby were the most likely to choose clingy, sexy outfits.

The takeaway point, the researchers say, is that our shopping behaviors can be driven by unconscious motives. In this case, women in the study who were fertile were nudged by their ovaries, so to speak, to choose clothing that made them appear more appealing to potential mates, compared to other attractive women in the area.

And now you know.

This segment is presented by Senior Care at Wishard, answering your questions at livinglongerbetter.org.

Additional Resources:

• Read more about the U of Minnesota report on ovulation and its effect on female shopping behaviors.