VARIATION IN RISK-TAKING BEHAVIOR AMONG FEMALE COLLEGE-STUDENTS AS A FUNCTION OF THE MENSTRUAL-CYCLE

There is some evidence that women are less likely to be raped during t he mid-portion of the menstrual cycle. In order to determine if women might be behaving in ways to decrease their chances of sexual assault when they are most likely to conceive, female college students were as ked to complete a questionnaire about their activities during the past 24 hours and indicate the first day of their last menstruation, A sta tistically significant decrease in risk taking behavior during the ovu latory phase of the menstrual cycle was obtained for respondents who w ere not taking birth control pills. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.