Do women feel worse to look their best? Testing the relationship between self-esteem and fertility status across the menstrual cycle.

Two studies measured self-esteem across the menstrual cycle to test the prediction that self-esteem will vary interindividually as a positive function of mate value and intraindividually as a negative function of fertility status. Study 1 (n = 52) found that self-esteem was positively related to mate value between women but that women experienced a self-esteem decrease nearest to ovulation, when women tend to be more attractive to men. Study 2 (n = 59) replicated these results and demonstrated that the self-esteem decrease at high fertility was positively related to women's reported long-term mating motivation. Additionally, the magnitude of the self-esteem decrease at high fertility was found to be related to increased willingness to spend money on items to enhance attractiveness at high fertility. A self-esteem decrease at high fertility may motivate mate value enhancement efforts when such efforts are most critical.