Women do their best work when they’re ovulating, according to new study

A new study suggests that women tend to perform at their creative best at the most fertile stage in their ovulation cycle.

Researchers have found that women’s creative potential improved when they were most likely to become pregnant, which may indicate that innovation is an indication of fitness for future partners.

The team of the SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Warsaw has set up creative thinking tasks for more than 750 women between the ages of 18 and 35.

They wrote: “The greater the likelihood of conception, the more original ideas were generated.

“These ideas were also more varied and included more frequent changes in perspective.”

Ovulation occurs on average about two weeks before a woman’s period begins, indicating the onset of an “optimal fertilization window” when they are most likely to become pregnant.

The positive correlation between peak fertility and creative potential could be an “adaptive function,” the researchers believe, meaning humans evolved to use creativity in courtship to attract a potential mate.

In 2000, a scientist named Geoffrey Miller first theorized that women use creativity and intelligence as a sign of their suitability for potential partners.

Dr. Katarzyna Galasinska and Aleksandra Szymkow, co-authors of the new study, aimed to replicate the initial findings to see if women’s creativity scores matched their ovulation cycles.

They have also pointed to previous studies that have shown women show behavioral, physical and cognitive changes during ovulation – for example, at the peak of fertility, women’s eyes become bright and their cheeks red ”and they are more motivated to“ engage in mating behavior To touch”. .

Dr Galasinska said: “Women have evolved in such a way that when the time comes to get pregnant, they start acting unconsciously differently.

“Sex hormones are a kind of mood enhancer, and a positive mood affects the flexibility of thinking.

“Women also feel more courageous and powerful, so they sometimes get close to ovulation in risky situations during the phase.

“To be creative, we need to take a little risk, as creativity requires patterns and mental blocks to be broken through,” she added.

The findings of the study, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Healthcan be helpful for women who want to learn how to use their menstrual cycles to their advantage.

Dr Galasinska added that women should be aware that “when estrogen increases (and before it decreases), our physiological processes are our allies and keep us high”.

“Maybe it’s time to address the key issues related to participating in development-oriented projects, or to just create something,” she suggested.

“The remaining time of the cycle therefore appears to be better for evaluation and a critical look at what has been done.”