Endocrinological effects of social exclusion and inclusion: Experimental evidence for adaptive regulation of female fecundity

Tran Dinh; Steven W Gangestad; Melissa Emery Thompson; A Janet Tomiyama; Daniel M T Fessler; Theresa E Robertson; Martie G Haselton

doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2021.104934

Endocrinological effects of social exclusion and inclusion: Experimental evidence for adaptive regulation of female fecundity

Horm Behav. 2021 Apr:130:104934. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2021.104934. Epub 2021 Feb 1.

Authors

Tran Dinh¹, Steven W Gangestad², Melissa Emery Thompson³, A Janet Tomiyama⁴, Daniel M T Fessler⁵, Theresa E Robertson⁶, Martie G Haselton⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA; Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Electronic address: trandinh@unm.edu.
² Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
³ Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Bedari Kindness Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁵ Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Bedari Kindness Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Center for Behavior, Evolution, & Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁶ Department of Management, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA.
⁷ Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Communication, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

PMID: 33476675
DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2021.104934

Abstract

When current conditions are probabilistically less suitable for successful reproduction than future conditions, females may prevent or delay reproduction until conditions improve. Throughout human evolution, social support was likely crucial to female reproductive success. Women may thus have evolved fertility regulation systems sensitive to cues from the social environment. However, current understanding of how psychological phenomena might affect female ovarian function is limited. In this study, we examined whether cues of reduced social support-social ostracism-impact women's hormone production. Following an in-lab group bonding task, women were randomly assigned to a social exclusion (n = 88) or social inclusion (n = 81) condition. After social exclusion, women with low background levels of social support experienced a decrease in estradiol relative to progesterone. In contrast, socially-included women with low background social support experienced an increase in estradiol relative to progesterone. Hormonal changes in both conditions occurred specifically when women were in their mid-to-late follicular phase, when baseline estradiol is high and progesterone is low. Follow-up analyses revealed that these changes were primarily driven by changes in progesterone, consistent with existing evidence for disruption of ovarian function following adrenal release of follicular-phase progesterone. Results offer support for a potential mechanism by which fecundity could respond adaptively to the loss or lack of social support.

Keywords: Estradiol; Fertility regulation; Ostracism; Progesterone; Social stress; Social support.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Estradiol
Female
Fertility
Follicular Phase
Humans
Progesterone*
Reproduction
Social Isolation*

Substances

Progesterone
Estradiol