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Nothing Personal, Dad: Your Daughter's Not Calling Because She's Fertile
Filed under: In The News, Research Reveals
Sorry, Pops, but right now she's definitely not thinking about dear old dad. Credit: Stockbyte, Getty Images
Right, ladies? Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge. Say no more. Say no more.
However, the last guy she wants around is her old coot of a father. That's just icky.
Psychologists have already established how women appreciate manly faces, masculine voices and a certain amount of macho swagger when their menstrual cycles are at their friskiest.
It makes sense from a Darwinian perspective.
Now, a study out of the University of Miami says that's all true, except when the manly face and masculine voice belongs to the woman's father. Fertile women apparently avoid their dads like the plague. Literally.
That also makes sense in terms of evolution. Our ancestors developed an instinct against inbreeding so as not to muddy up the gene pool.
"Evolutionary biologists have found that females in other species avoid social interactions with male kin during periods of high fertility," Debra Lieberman says in a University of Miami press release. "The behavior has long been explained as a means of avoiding inbreeding and the negative consequences associated with it. But until we conducted our study, nobody knew whether a similar pattern occurred in women."
Researchers looked at the cell phone records of 48 women of reproductive age. They noted all calls with parents over the course of a billing period -- identifying how much time was spent talking to mothers as opposed to fathers.
Naturally, they also tracked each woman's reproductive cycle.
"Women call their dads less frequently on these high-fertility days and they hang up with them sooner if their dads initiate a call," says Martie Haselton, a UCLA associate professor of communication in whose lab the research was conducted, in the press release.
Fertile women were about half as likely to call their fathers as they were the rest of the month. That didn't stop their fathers from calling them, of course. This gave researchers another basis for comparison.
It's all quite logical, Lieberman, an assistant psychology professor, says in the press release.
"In humans, women are only fertile for a short window of time within their menstrual cycle," she says. "Sexual decisions during this time are critical, as they could lead to pregnancy and the long-term commitment of raising a child. For this reason, it makes sense that women would reduce their interactions with male genetic relatives, who are undesirable mates."
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ReaderComments (Page 3 of 3)
12-02-2010 @ 1:34PM
JJ said...This is really "out there". Just another "wacky" theory! Sadly, some people really believe all this garbage!
Reply
12-02-2010 @ 1:56PM
RockThisTown said...Some egg-headed (& probably absent-minded), Electra complex-obsessed, creepy college professor probably got a grant to do this totally idiotic study. How do they know the reduced phone calls were due to trying to avoid some kind of weird incestuous contact with their fathers? Perhaps it was simply that they were in a bad mood to start with b/c of hormonal activity. And the records of only 48 women were looked at? Come on, do a study with a couple thousand women, then I might pay attention. Another factor that was probably overlooked was the relationships themselves - how do they know the dad-daughter relationships were any different prior to reaching reproductive age? This is simply more politically correct nonsense trying to paint American Dads as perverted, sexual predators looking to have sex with whoever they can, including their own daughters. Sick.
Hey Professor Leiberman, did the study include any Muslim women? You know, the ones whose genitals are mutilated by their fathers, and who are killed if they remove their burkas, or the ones who get stoned to death if raped?
Reply
12-02-2010 @ 1:54PM
sbrubyslippers said...well, some women are always using some sort of reason for their attitudes during before and after.i think people just scrutinize things so much they seem to go past the piont.most women are cranky,and stand offish during their period, and most women use it to the fullest advantage. icky, whining females suck! i'm all woman, and i'm glad my hubby, friends, and anybody i meet, doesn't have to put up with a b..ch! get over it .your a woman!!!!!!!!
Reply
12-02-2010 @ 2:14PM
Botswana Slim said...Easy way to verify the study is to check the phone records again and see if the women also avoided brothers, uncles and other male relatives. If a women is avoidind dad, but talking for hours to her brother maybe it just means her dad's an a-hole and nothing more.
Reply
12-02-2010 @ 2:21PM
Jeannie said...Wow...remind me to stay the hell away from the morons on staff in the psychology department at the University of Miami! =0 Somebody needs to call the Stupid Police, and have those idiots arrested for Crimes Against Intelligence, because this was one of the most moronic studies to ever come out of any university. Seriously--I think we need to start punishing people for being this blatantly stupid...they shouldn't be allowed to walk around free when they're clearly SO stupid that their very existence is an insult to intelligent people.
Reply
12-02-2010 @ 3:02PM
Micki said...There are no fossils indicating that one fish, animal or whatever evolved from another. Ancient fossils of frogs, fish, birds, or anything else indicate they were frogs, fish, birds eons ago. There is no evidence in the fossils that one specie evolved into another.
Reply
12-02-2010 @ 4:42PM
Kathy said...What are the statistics for men and their mothers? Is there a cycle a "Momma's Boy," doesn't call or see his mommy? Unfortunately, this survey can be disputed, as there are women that compare their boyfriends/husbands to their fathers, and can never be truly happy in their lives, as they know whatever they want, daddy will make sure they have it, and their relationships or marriage do fall apart, as do their fathers' whom divorce their mothers' and move on, they too dictate whom daddy should be with!
Reply
1-01-2011 @ 5:48AM
gary said...This theory maybe true... My daughter only calls when she wants MONEY$$$ For nails, hair, gas, It is like having more than one X-wife. They want as much money as they can get.....
Reply