New research sheds light on why women tend to generate more creative ideas during the ovulatory phase

A recent study published in The Journal of Creative Behavior suggests that women tend to generate more original ideas during the ovulatory phase of their menstrual cycle. The research provides evidence that this temporary boost in creative potential is likely a side effect of the natural increase in physiological arousal that occurs during this time. These findings help explain how biological changes in the human body can indirectly shape everyday thinking and problem-solving skills.

Divergent thinking is a specific type of mental process used to generate multiple different solutions to an open-ended problem. It is often considered a key indicator of state-dependent creative potential, meaning a temporary and flexible boost in the ability to think outside the box. Past research indicates that women tend to perform better on divergent thinking tasks during the fertile window of their menstrual cycle compared to non-fertile phases.

Some experts have proposed that this increase acts as a subtle social signal to potential mates. From an evolutionary perspective, highly creative individuals might be more successful at attracting partners because creativity can signal intelligence and cognitive flexibility. If this is the case, a temporary spike in creative displays during ovulation could serve a very specific reproductive purpose.

“Two previous studies I conducted showed that women tend to generate more original ideas during ovulation,” said Katarzyna Galasinska, a researcher at SWPS University in Warsaw and the Institute of Psychology at the University of Wrocław in Poland. “I became interested in understanding why this happens.” Galasinska noted that one possible explanation was that women experience higher levels of physical arousal during their fertile days.

Because moderate levels of physical arousal are known to facilitate creative thinking, the heightened originality could just be an unintentional consequence of this biological state. “In my earlier work, I tried to test this idea using self-report measures, asking women how aroused or activated they felt,” Galasinska said. “However, self-reports may not always reflect what is happening physiologically, as people are not necessarily aware of subtle changes in their bodily state.”

“I therefore decided to use a physiological measure of arousal, electrodermal activity, which reflects changes in skin conductance associated with activation of the sympathetic nervous system,” she explained.

For their study, the researchers recruited women of reproductive age from a university in Poland. The final sample included 69 women between the ages of 18 and 35 who experienced natural menstrual cycles lasting between 21 and 35 days. None of the participants were using hormonal contraceptives, pregnant, or recently postpartum, which ensured their natural hormone cycles were not disrupted.

Each participant attended four separate laboratory sessions scheduled around specific phases of her individual menstrual cycle. These appointments included the early follicular phase shortly after menstruation, two separate ovulatory phases across different cycles, and the late luteal phase leading up to the next period. The researchers used at-home luteinizing hormone tests and salivary microscope tests to verify exactly when each woman was in her fertile window.

During the laboratory sessions, participants completed an exercise designed to measure their divergent thinking abilities. They were given five minutes to list as many unusual and creative uses as possible for a common everyday object, such as a brick, a towel, a shoe, or a bottle. Independent judges later rated these answers without knowing any details about the participants or their cycle phases.

The judges evaluated the answers based on three specific categories. They looked at fluency, which is the total number of valid ideas generated by the participant. They measured flexibility, which is the variety of different conceptual categories represented in the answers. Finally, they scored originality, which measures the unique and uncommon nature of the specific ideas.

While the women worked on the brainstorming task, the scientists recorded their physiological arousal using sensors attached to the fingers of their non-dominant hands. This technique measures electrodermal activity, which tracks microscopic changes in sweat gland production linked to the sympathetic nervous system. An increase in skin conductance signals that the body is experiencing a state of heightened physical activation or alertness.

In one of the two ovulatory sessions, the scientists introduced a specific intervention designed to lower the participants’ arousal levels. Before starting the brainstorming task, the women were taken to a comfortable room and asked to relax on a sofa for ten minutes. During this rest period, they listened to soothing music played on Tibetan singing bowls to intentionally calm their nervous systems.

The data revealed that women produced more original ideas during their fertile ovulatory phase compared to their non-fertile phases. However, the total number of ideas and the variety of categories did not change depending on the phase of the menstrual cycle. The sensors also detected a higher number of physiological arousal peaks during the ovulatory phase compared to the non-fertile days.

“This turned out to be a useful approach,” Galasinska told PsyPost. “We found that women indeed showed higher physiological arousal during ovulation, and this increase statistically explained their higher originality scores. This suggested that the rise in creative potential during ovulation may be linked to changes in physiological activation rather than conscious feelings of arousal.”

Interestingly, the women did not report feeling any more energetic, positive, or sexually aroused on their fertile days when filling out the self-report questionnaires. “What surprised us most was that physiological arousal and self-reported arousal were essentially unrelated,” Galasinska said. “Women showed clear physiological changes during ovulation, but they did not report feeling more aroused than during other phases of the cycle.”

This disconnect highlights a noticeable difference between conscious emotional feelings and actual physical states. “This suggests that important psychological processes may sometimes be driven by bodily changes that occur outside conscious awareness,” she added. The authors found that the increased number of physical arousal peaks directly linked the ovulatory phase to the generation of more original ideas.

The relaxation exercise provided evidence supporting the idea that this physical arousal drives the creative spike. When women relaxed and listened to calming music during their fertile phase, their physical arousal dropped compared to a normal testing session. Following this drop in physical activation, the originality of their ideas also decreased, falling to the levels normally seen during their non-fertile days.

While the study provides detailed insights into the link between the menstrual cycle and creative thought, there are some limitations to keep in mind. The relaxation exercise successfully lowered physical arousal, but it also improved the participants’ overall positive mood. Because a positive mood tends to encourage creative thinking, the shift in emotional tone could have complicated the results and influenced the final scores.

“Our study focused on one specific aspect of creativity, divergent thinking,” Galasinska explained. “Creativity is a much broader phenomenon, and we cannot assume that all forms of creativity fluctuate in the same way.” It is important not to misinterpret these findings as a general measure of a person’s overall creativity, intelligence, or artistic talent.

“In addition, although our findings are consistent with the idea that physiological arousal may contribute to changes in creative thinking across the menstrual cycle, this conclusion should be treated with caution,” Galasinska said. “Our study represents only one piece of evidence, and further research using different measures and methodologies is needed before firm conclusions can be drawn. Other biological, emotional, or motivational factors associated with ovulation may also play an important role.”

Future research could explore how these physical changes interact with specific medical variables. “One of my next steps is to understand how hormonal contraception may affect women’s creative potential,” Galasinska said. “Our findings suggest that naturally occurring hormonal changes can influence physiological arousal and, in turn, originality of thinking.”

“This raises an important question: what happens when these hormonal fluctuations are reduced or eliminated by contraceptive use?” she asked. “Answering this question could help us better understand the complex links between hormones, physiology, and cognition, while also addressing a topic that is highly relevant to millions of women worldwide.”

“I would like women to take away the message that cognitive performance is not necessarily constant across the menstrual cycle,” Galasinska said. “Biological processes can subtly influence how we think, solve problems, and generate new ideas, even when we are not consciously aware of these changes.”

“More broadly, our findings highlight the close connection between the body and the mind,” she explained. “Creativity is often viewed as a purely intellectual ability, but our study suggests that physiological states can shape how original our ideas are. Understanding these links may help us better appreciate the factors that influence creativity in everyday life.”

“I think this study also highlights the importance of examining human behavior at multiple levels of explanation,” Galasinska told PsyPost. “Increased creativity during ovulation has often been discussed from an evolutionary perspective, focusing on its possible function in mating and sexual selection. In this study, we asked a different question: what physiological mechanisms might produce this effect?

“Following the approach proposed by Nikolaas Tinbergen, a fuller understanding of behavior requires both types of explanations. Rather than competing with evolutionary accounts, our findings suggest that physiological arousal may represent one of the proximate mechanisms through which these broader patterns emerge.”

The study, “Creative Potential Peaks During Ovulation: A By-Product of Physiological Arousal,” was authored by Katarzyna Galasinska, Michal Olszanowski, Aleksandra Tolopilo, Natalia Frankowska, Gniewomir Jachlewski, and Aleksandra Szymkow.