Pill influences attractiveness of the partner

Partner may suddenly appear different after stopping the pill

28/11/2014

The birth control pill is the most commonly used and most popular contraceptive in Germany. Accordingly, many young women take the pill completely without hesitation, but this often changes when a relationship lasts for years or when pregnancy is planned. Then it is often switched to alternative contraceptives or completely dispensed with the pill. Researchers at Florida State University have therefore explored the question of whether or not the withdrawal affects the relationship.

Birth control pills the most popular contraceptive
The most popular contraceptive for women is birth control pills, because it provides reliable protection against pregnancy, is easy and uncomplicated to take and is well tolerated in most cases. But especially in longer relationships, young women often feel the need to give their body a go „pause“ to treat and use other methods of contraception. In other cases, there is now a desire to have children, so that the pill is simply discontinued after years of continuous use. But what influence does the abandonment have on the relationship? This changes something between the partners?

Studies with 118 young couples analyzed
Florida State University scientists have asked themselves this question and have therefore analyzed data from two different studies with 118 newly married couples. Like the researchers around psychologist Michelle Russell in the journal „Proceedings of the National Academy of Science“ In the first study, women were interviewed every six months over a four-year period about their current satisfaction with the relationship and the current method of birth control. In the second study, women were asked the same questions every three months across three waves, and trained observers judged the attractiveness of men in both examinations.

Negative consequences for close relationships through the pill?
The result: the women who had already taken the pill while getting to know their partner and later deposed, became more dissatisfied with their relationship if the man was unattractive. Conversely, women's satisfaction after discontinuation increased in the partnerships where the man was considered attractive by the trained observers.

In addition, the researchers came by the analysis of the data to another finding: women who had taken the pill at the beginning of the partnership and they had discontinued over time, were on average less satisfied with the common sex life. „These results suggest that the use of hormonal contraceptives may have unintended consequences for women's close relationships“, so the researchers in the „Proceedings“. The researchers were also able to confirm previous studies that had already come to the conclusion that the pill had an influence on the criteria for choosing a partner. Thus, women who take birth control pills would pay less attention to the external appearance of their partner than those who do not.

After discontinuing the pill women pay more attention to the attractiveness of the partner
„Many forms of hormonal contraception are weakening the hormonal processes associated with facial appeal preferences, "said Michelle Russell, a graduate student at Florida State University and principal author of the study in a statement from the university. „Accordingly, women who start their relationship begin taking hormonal contraceptives and then stop prioritizing signals of their men's genetic fitness, such as their facial appeal, and more so than continuing to take the hormonal contraceptives. In other words, the attractiveness of a partner plays a greater role in women's satisfaction when they discontinue hormonal contraceptives.“ (No)

Picture: Thomas Max Müller