Going, Going, Gone: Hidden Hormonal Influences on Loss Aversion

Loss aversion is the tendency to be more sensitive to losses than comparable gains. Research has converged on the robustness of loss aversion in human psychology (Kahneman and Tversky 1979; Tversky and Kahnemen 1991), yet little research has investigated how biological factors influence intra-individual differences in loss aversion. The current research examined whether women’s sensitivity to loss aversion is influenced by a universal biological factor – the monthly ovulatory cycle. The ovulatory cycle spans, on average, 28 days, during which a woman can become pregnant only during the week long ovulatory phase of the cycle. Research has shown that ovulation can non-consciously alter women’s psychology. For instance, ovulating women report less commitment to their current romantic partner (Durante and Li 2009; Gangestad, Thornhill, and Garver 2002) and are particularly attracted to men other than their partner who display markers of genetic fitness (e.g., physical attractiveness, masculinity, social dominance; Durante et al. 2012). Consequently, women are more likely to cheat on their partner near ovulation (Bellis and Baker 1990; Garver-Apgar et al. 2006). Because ovulating women become less committed to their current partner and are more likely to engage in behaviors that could threaten their relationship, we predicted that women might exhibit less loss aversion near ovulation. Thus, we investigated whether ovulating women’s decreased commitment to their current partner translates to the marketplace.