There is an opinion that in the spring of people hormonal storm covers and at this time of the year they are more romantic. We decided to check if such a belief is confirmed by statistical and scientific data.
They write about the special influence of spring on libido Medical news sites, Lifestail and blogs for women And men. “In the spring, every sprout rises. This concerns the man. ” shares Folk wisdom site of the newspaper Moscow Komsomolets. Forum users set The question, which sex people experience a greater attraction at this time of the year, and the media, referring, including expert assessments, Answer: Everyone wants sex. However, there are skeptics, countingthat the influence of spring on libido is overestimated.
WITH medical The point of view sexual desire is a set of factors that include a person to sexually active behavior or avert from him. Sexologists Determine The attraction as a combination of visual, biochemical, emotional and biomechanical signals that launch a series of hormonal reactions, which can lead to successful fertilization of the egg with sperm. On the intensity of attraction influences The age of a person, the state of health (including mental), cultural factors, the nature of relations with a partner, hormonal background, taking medicines and other substances, and for women - also the phase of the menstrual cycle. But is there a place for the season among these factors?
In order to strictly assess the level of sexual desire depending on the time of year, it would take, on the one hand, regular survey of a large and representative sample of people to collect subjective information about the attraction, on the other hand, constant medical examinations of the sample participants to fix objective data. Studies with such a design were not found. Another restriction is the difference between calendar and climatic spring, which occurs at different times in different regions. At the same time, there are a number of indirect data showing the seasonality of sexual desire.
For example, you can consider the time of birth of children in different countries. Of course, the occurrence of attraction does not always lead to sex, and sex - to conception. But it is logical to assume that the correlation will be observed in large samples of people. Another factor that can reduce the reliability of the conclusions based on this approach is the prevalence of contraceptives. However, according to WHO statistics, in 2023, modern methods of contraception in the world Used Less than half of women of reproductive age, and earlier this indicator was even lower. Therefore, with a certain error on data on the number of childbirths, it is still possible to rely.
Let us turn to data for different countries. In Russia, the peak of births It is necessary In the second half of summer - according to statistics, in 2000–2022, more often babies were born in July and August. It turns out that the peak of conceptions (with an average time of gestation at 40 weeks) was in October and November. Absolutely similar situation observed in the USA. In 2014, scientists from the University of Michigan Summarized The statistics for the previous 78 years have found that in the more northern states children are more often born in the summer, but in the southern this peak is shifted in the fall. They also compiled a consolidated map for the countries of the Northern Hemisphere - it turned out that the farther the country is located from the equator, the earlier the peak of childbearing occurs with respect to the beginning of the year. For example, in Finland he It is necessary At the end of April, and on Jamaica - already in November. If you count from these peaks the same 40 weeks, it turns out that in Finland, conceptions most often occur in the second half of July, and in Jamaica - in February. If the peak of conceptions was in the spring, then most children would be born in winter. However, on the schedule made by the authors of the study, this is the most “empty” site.
Analyzing Data on different countries of the world, scientists have found that from the 1970s until the 2010s, none of them had a peak of births in December (and the peak of conceptions-in March). Only in 1972-1981 was January the most productive month was January (respectively, the conceptions occurred in April). In three countries and on the same island (in Azerbaijan in 1992–2004, Iran in 1999-2004, Tunisia in 1971-1976 and on Gernsy in 1973-1979), the peak of births were on February, and the peak of conceptions was in May. It turns out that from the point of view of the conception of children, the spring months are the least “popular”.
Similar statistics as a whole correlate with the observations of biologists, which note a clearly pronounced seasonality in the fertility of men. This conclusion was reached, in particular, Israeli scientists who Analyzed 6455 sperm samples collected in different months of the year. And from the quantitative and from a qualitative point of view, the “spring” sperm was inferior to “summer” and “autumn”. Researchers from the University of Duke (USA) conducted a similar experiment, but measured the content of testosterone (hormone, including answering For the emergence of sexual desire in men) in the saliva of volunteers at different times of the year. The highest concentrations were marked in the fall, and the lowest in the spring. In turn, Turkish scientists found outthat the production of testosterone, as well as the frequency of thoughts about sex and ejaculations (the first indicator was measured through a blood test, two others - through questionnaires) depend on the air temperature. In the winter months, when in the region where the study was conducted, the average temperature was in the area of –15 ° C, all three indicators were much lower than in the summer, when the mark on the thermometer rose to +25 ° C. It turns out that on the one hand, in the spring, men want sex than in the fall, due to the low level of testosterone, on the other hand, at this time of the year they are less fertile. Moreover, if spring has come only calendar, but not climatic, there will be no significant growth of sexual activity.
On the sexual activity of men, probably influence Another hormone is Melatonin. At least animal studies show that he Participates In regulation of reproduction. In species that breed in a long daylight day, melatonin reduces the level of sexual activity, and in species that prefer a short daylight hours to continue the genus, on the contrary, increases. People, as shown by statistics and studies of male fertility, belong to the second type. At the same time, the production of melatonin in the human body, as demonstrated research, the inhabitants of the Northern Hemisphere have pronounced peak in winter, in the darkest season. Therefore, in conditions of a shorter daylight, the sexual activity of people is most likely increased, and in conditions of a long one, reduced.
Women have sexual desire and, of course, the conception window primarily depends on the phase of the cycle. Usually the peak of desire arises One or two days before ovulation and continues throughout the ovulatory phase. However, seasonality plays a role. In 2022, an international group of scientists Analyzed Clue data, a popular application for tracking menstrual cycle. At the disposal of the researchers were records of more than 500,000 women in 180 million days. Clue users not only lead the cycle calendar, but can also, among other things, evaluate the level of their sexual desire, enter data on the sexual intercourse and acts of masturbation, pregnancy and the birth of children. Scientists have found out a number of laws: the sexual activity of women fluctuated not only depending on the phase of the cycle, it was higher on weekends and some holidays. In some countries (for example, in France), the increased sexual activity of users was observed in July and August, including due to vacations when they had more free time. Another peak (in different countries) fell on the period of the longest nights a year, and in the Northern Hemisphere, where it was close to the New Year and Christmas holidays, was even more pronounced than in the South.
Probably, such seasonality, in varying degrees expressed in men and women, has Evolutionary Component. In animals with prolonged pregnancy, conception usually occurs in the fall, in winter the fetus receives food from the mother, and is born when there is a lot of food around (for example, in July or August). But animals with a short period of gestation are “more profitable” so that conception occurs in the spring, shortly before the hearty summer months. Man is a vivid example of the first type, but cats are the second (hence the expression about the March cats).
Although it may seem that a person is no longer so much dependent on the seasonal availability of resources, the conception time still affects the success of gesturing and the health of the children born. Scientists from Princeton University in 2013 collected Data on almost 1.5 million children conceived in different months of the year. It turned out that before the term, children conceived in May were most often born, in second place - conceived in April. At the same time, by data WHO, complications arising due to premature birth, is the main cause of mortality among children under the age of five.
The statistics and conclusions of biologists are confirmed by the research of their colleagues from other scientific areas. For example, in 2012, American scientists assessed the seasonality of human sexuality on Google search requests. Researchers focused On the time when users were more likely to look for porn, they were interested in sex services or tried to find a couple. The peaks of requests related to pornography fell on December and June, and related to prostitution and the search for the couple - for January and July.
Finally, the dependence of the male attraction on the season was studied from a psychological point of view. Scientists from the University of Wroclaw at different times of the year showed The group of volunteers with three sets of photographs and asked to evaluate the attractiveness of women depicted on them. In the first set there were pictures of women of various complexions in swimsuits, in the second - pictures of the female breast of different sizes, and in the third - pictures of female faces. It turned out that female breasts had the most pronounced seasonal attractiveness - with a clearly expressed peak in winter and a decline in the summer. Photos in the swimsuit were generally evaluated as less exciting, but the fluctuations were the same as with pictures of busts. The faces excited volunteers the least, and their attractiveness did not depend at all on the time of year. Scientists suggested that in winter women walk in closed clothing and therefore at this time of the year their naked or half -naked photos seem more exciting for men. When similar visual incentives are on any beach, the severity of experiences decreases. In the spring - apparently, after a period of visual hunger - women were more attractive than in the fall, but much less than in winter. Unfortunately, these scientists did not conduct these scientists to conduct a similar research design in which women would evaluate the visual attractiveness of men.
Thus, numerous indirect data refutes the myth of increased sexual activity of people in the spring. So, statistics show that most often conceptions occur, on the contrary, in the fall and winter. And this is logical, because from a biological point of view, autumn is the most productive period for men from the point of view of propagation. At this time of the year, they have a testosterone surge and the quality of sperm improves. Women have no one -pronounced seasonality of sexual desire - it increases on weekends, holidays and holiday season. Probably, the connection between this time of year and the enhanced sex drive is exclusively cultural. Accepting spring as a season of awakening nature, people believe that their libido should awaken from winter hibernation. But in reality, there is no scientific evidence that most of this really happens.
Image on the cover: Image by Franky from Pixabay
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