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edit approved Mar 25, 2016 at 6:35
Dan Getz
edit approved Mar 25, 2016 at 6:35
Dan Getz
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It has been reported (and repeated) several times that women who use the typical birth control pill (with both estrogen and progestin) show different preferences for men, depending on whether they are currently using the pill or not.

See, for example:, these articles in Scientific americanScientific American and TimeTime magazine, which reference this study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

It has (by extension) further been claimed that the birth control pill may inadvertently be responsible for a large share of infidelity, breakups and divorces (see the above links). The reasoning goes as follows: People end up in relationships while the woman is on (or off) the pill. As soon as the woman stops (or starts) taking the pill, her preferences change, which eventually assists in the relationship's demise.

Since I am not very knowledge about biology, I was wondering about two things:

1 - How solid is the science on this? Was this just a single study that was overreported and may as well have been a fluke, or is it safe to assume that this is correct?

2 - Is the reported effect truly strong enough to warrant the conclusions offered (more divorces and breakups), or is this just another correlation vs causation error?

  1. How solid is the science on this? Was this just a single study that was overreported and may as well have been a fluke, or is it safe to assume that this is correct?

  2. Is the reported effect truly strong enough to warrant the conclusions offered (more divorces and breakups), or is this just another correlation vs causation error?

It has been reported (and repeated) several times that women who use the typical birth control pill (with both estrogen and progestin) show different preferences for men, depending on whether they are currently using the pill or not.

See, for example: Scientific american and Time magazine.

It has (by extension) further been claimed that the birth control pill may inadvertently be responsible for a large share of infidelity, breakups and divorces (see the above links). The reasoning goes as follows: People end up in relationships while the woman is on (or off) the pill. As soon as the woman stops (or starts) taking the pill, her preferences change, which eventually assists in the relationship's demise.

Since I am not very knowledge about biology, I was wondering about two things:

1 - How solid is the science on this? Was this just a single study that was overreported and may as well have been a fluke, or is it safe to assume that this is correct?

2 - Is the reported effect truly strong enough to warrant the conclusions offered (more divorces and breakups), or is this just another correlation vs causation error?

It has been reported (and repeated) several times that women who use the typical birth control pill (with both estrogen and progestin) show different preferences for men, depending on whether they are currently using the pill or not.

See, for example, these articles in Scientific American and Time magazine, which reference this study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

It has (by extension) further been claimed that the birth control pill may inadvertently be responsible for a large share of infidelity, breakups and divorces (see the above links). The reasoning goes as follows: People end up in relationships while the woman is on (or off) the pill. As soon as the woman stops (or starts) taking the pill, her preferences change, which eventually assists in the relationship's demise.

Since I am not very knowledge about biology, I was wondering about two things:

  1. How solid is the science on this? Was this just a single study that was overreported and may as well have been a fluke, or is it safe to assume that this is correct?

  2. Is the reported effect truly strong enough to warrant the conclusions offered (more divorces and breakups), or is this just another correlation vs causation error?

Tweeted twitter.com/StackSkeptic/status/713137537578045440
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Mark Anderson
Mark Anderson
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Does taking birth control pills alter your preferences for a partner?

It has been reported (and repeated) several times that women who use the typical birth control pill (with both estrogen and progestin) show different preferences for men, depending on whether they are currently using the pill or not.

See, for example: Scientific american and Time magazine.

It has (by extension) further been claimed that the birth control pill may inadvertently be responsible for a large share of infidelity, breakups and divorces (see the above links). The reasoning goes as follows: People end up in relationships while the woman is on (or off) the pill. As soon as the woman stops (or starts) taking the pill, her preferences change, which eventually assists in the relationship's demise.

Since I am not very knowledge about biology, I was wondering about two things:

1 - How solid is the science on this? Was this just a single study that was overreported and may as well have been a fluke, or is it safe to assume that this is correct?

2 - Is the reported effect truly strong enough to warrant the conclusions offered (more divorces and breakups), or is this just another correlation vs causation error?