How personality relates to probability of conception

Abstract

Do personality traits relate to how likely women are to conceive? In two studies (N = 250), we explored the relationship between the probability of conception and the Big Five (Study 1) and the Dark Triad (Study 2) traits. Study 1 suggested that women who were freely cycling and likely to conceive were less agreeable and lower on openness, which may assist in assertiveness and higher discernibility for new partners. Study 2 suggested that coupled, as opposed to single women, who were more likely to conceive, were more narcissistic, which may be related to an increased sense of desirability and enable them to compete with their current partners over sexual access. While this was an exploratory study, it provided implications for the possibility that self-reported personality traits are sensitive to hormonal fluctuations that may be geared towards changes in women's sexual motivation..