Post by max23 on Jun 13, 2017 2:13:04 GMT -5
According to this article, a study carried out by period tracking app Clue in partnership with the University of Oxford, proves that menstrual synchrony is a myth. The study, thought to be the largest of its kind:
“... received 1500 responses, which were narrowed down to 360 pairs of women. Analysing three consecutive cycles in each pair, the research found the vast majority – 273 pairs – had a greater difference in period start dates at the end of the study than at the beginning. In other words, menstrual syncing is a myth up there with periods being tied to the waxing and waning of the moon. Not only that, women’s menstrual cycles are more likely to diverge than come together over time.”
This has also been the experience of the article’s female author. She says she’s been living with her female partner for 11 years and their periods have never synced for more than a month or two, because she and her partner’s cycles are different lengths.
The most often quoted evidence for menstrual synchrony is a 1971 Harvard research paper, Menstrual Synchrony and Suppression, by psychologist Martha McClintock who tracked 135 female college students living in the same dorm and found “a significant increase in synchronisation of onset dates”. McClintock’s methodology has been criticised as being flawed, and since her study, other studies have been published that failed to find synchrony.
One of the interesting things about menstrual synchronisation is that even though there’s no evidence that it exists, a lot of women say they’ve experienced it. A study published in 1999 revealed that 80% of women believed in the phenomenon. In this article, McClintock says she still believes that menstrual synchrony exists, and the comments on the article include some from women who say they’ve experienced synchrony.
“... received 1500 responses, which were narrowed down to 360 pairs of women. Analysing three consecutive cycles in each pair, the research found the vast majority – 273 pairs – had a greater difference in period start dates at the end of the study than at the beginning. In other words, menstrual syncing is a myth up there with periods being tied to the waxing and waning of the moon. Not only that, women’s menstrual cycles are more likely to diverge than come together over time.”
This has also been the experience of the article’s female author. She says she’s been living with her female partner for 11 years and their periods have never synced for more than a month or two, because she and her partner’s cycles are different lengths.
The most often quoted evidence for menstrual synchrony is a 1971 Harvard research paper, Menstrual Synchrony and Suppression, by psychologist Martha McClintock who tracked 135 female college students living in the same dorm and found “a significant increase in synchronisation of onset dates”. McClintock’s methodology has been criticised as being flawed, and since her study, other studies have been published that failed to find synchrony.
One of the interesting things about menstrual synchronisation is that even though there’s no evidence that it exists, a lot of women say they’ve experienced it. A study published in 1999 revealed that 80% of women believed in the phenomenon. In this article, McClintock says she still believes that menstrual synchrony exists, and the comments on the article include some from women who say they’ve experienced synchrony.