| Description |
Although testosterone (T) has been dubbed the "hormone of desire," the link between T and sex drive has proven inconsistent among women. The mixed pattern of findings suggests that woman vary in the degree to which changes in T correspond to changes in sex drive (i.e., the T-drive linkage). Yet, to date no one has examined why this variation exists. The current study sought to answer 2 questions: First, within each individual woman, does T-drive linkage change as a function of ovulation? Second, is the overall degree of T-drive linkage higher in women with greater sexual motivation, greater average T, or greater daily variability in T, and among lesbian, bisexual or heterosexual women? We further explored how between-person and within-person characteristics interact to shape the T-drive linkage. To do this, we assessed daily T and daily sex drive over the middle 2 weeks of the menstrual cycle in a sample of 157 heterosexual, lesbian, and bisexual women. Multilevel modeling analyses demonstrated that lesbian and bisexual women showed a significant T-drive linkage, but only following ovulation, whereas heterosexual women had a significant T-drive linkage, but only prior to ovulation. Moreover, women with higher average T levels showed an inverse T-drive linkage prior to ovulation and a positive T-drive linkage following ovulation, whereas women with lower average T levels did not show a significant T-drive linkage during any ovulatory phase. Results suggest that considering menstrual cycle timing and trait-like characteristics are key to understanding variation in the T-drive linkage. |
