Estradiol → Dominance strategy
Cycle-phase 'preference for dominance' is a contested meta-finding, not a hormone dial.
Meta-analysis · Contested
The association does not survive the backdoor. Usually SES, outdoor time, or healthy-user bias.
Mechanism
Gildersleeve, Haselton, and Fales (2014) reported ovulatory shifts toward masculine/dominant cues. Wood and colleagues (2014) did not. Estradiol is the usual named mediator. A disagreement this public stays public: both papers sit on this edge.
Caveats
Even the positive meta is not a license to time a negotiation to a luteal calendar. Between-cycle noise, p-hacking risk, and the leap from facial masculinity to 'dominance strategy' as this atlas defines it are all large.
Effect
qualitative. Two 2014 meta-analyses disagree on whether cycle shifts exist.
Nodes
Named confounders
Cite this page
What Causes What. “Estradiol → Dominance strategy.” https://whatcauseswhat.org/edges/e-estradiol-cycle-pref (atlas updated 2026-08-31).
Papers
- Do women's mate preferences change across the ovulatory cycle? A meta-analytic review
K. Gildersleeve, M. G. Haselton, M. R. Fales · 2014 · Psychological Bulletin
- Meta-analysis of menstrual cycle effects on women's mate preferences
W. Wood, L. Kressel, P. D. Joshi, B. Louie · 2014 · Emotion Review