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Alzate-Pamplona, F.-A., Galindo-Caballero, Óscar, Sánchez Escudero, J. P., & Villada Zapata, J. (2023). Economic Decisions, Attractiveness, and Intrasexual Competition during Menstrual Cycle in the Ultimatum Game. International Journal of Psychological Research, 16(1), 6–16. https://doi.org/10.21500/20112084.5919
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Abstract

Introduction: it seems that, in the phase of greatest fertility, women’s intrasexualcompetition (toward attractive women who live nearby) increases due to access to resources, status, and biologically desirable partners. Objective: to comparethe economic decisions (ED) during the ovulatory (OP) and luteal (LP) phasesof the menstrual cycle (MC) with exposure to two stimuli: a photograph of amore attractive woman and a photograph of a less attractive woman, throughthe ultimatum game (UG). Methodology: the research followed a cross-sectional design between subjects to see group differences by contrasting hypotheses. The sampling was probabilistic, with a sample of 100 heterosexual women, students at a public university with an age range of 18 to 24 years, with regular MC, who did not use hormonal contraceptive methods and did not have any endocrine condition. The inverse counting method with confirmation was applied to identify CM phases; and the UG to evaluate the DE. Results: the phases of the MC had no effect on the ED; the women behaved similarly in their decisions, regardless ofthe phase of the cycle they were in or the type of stimulus to which they were exposed. Conclusion: OP and LP do not affect the ED of women when they are exposed to an attractive stimulus. The discussion is made considering the evolutionary theory of the ovulatory shift hypothesis.

Keywords:

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