Men’s and Women’s Beliefs about the Influence of the Menstrual Cycle on Academic Performance: A Preliminary Study’

ANNE WALKER’ University of Dundee

A preliminary investigation of beliefs about the influence of the menstrual cycle on work performance was conducted. Undergraduate students were asked to make a pass/fail decision about a borderline exam mark based on a wide variety of educa- tional, medical, and personal information about the candidate and to rate the impor- tance of various factors in their decisions. Three versions of the questionnaire were used, varying only in the menstrual cycle status of the examinee. The results showed that students do believe that the premenstrual and, particularly, menstrual phases have a negative impact on performance. However, in this context, they were considered of minor importance compared with educational and personality factors.

Menstruation and the menstrual cycle have long been believed to influence women’s behavior and their ability to work. The customs and superstitions of preliterate peoples and earlier civilizations regarding menstruation are well documented. They often entail prohibiting work such as preparing food, collecting water or firewood, tending crops or animals, and so on. In some cultures, prohibitions have extended as far as the segregation of women into “menstrual huts” during the menses (see Crawfurd, 1915; Dingwall, 1935; Frazer, 1932; Paige & Paige, 1981). Although the reasons for these practices are not fully understood, it seems likely that women are considered to be dangerous or impure at this time and are prohibited from various types of work to protect the other members of the society (e.g., Douglas, 1966; Steph- ens, 1961; Young & Bacdayen, 1965).

Western cultures also have believed that work, especially of an intellectual nature, during menstruation endangers either the health of the woman herself or the welfare of others. In the nineteenth century, for instance, academic work during menstruation was thought by many authors to cause irreparable damage to the reproductive organs (see Bullough & Voght, 1973; Martin, 1989; Showalter & Showalter, 1970; Smith-Rosenberg & Rosenberg, 1973). In more recent years, popular authors have described the potential damage caused to society, rather than to women themselves, by work around the time of menstruation. Dysmenorrhea and premenstrual syndrome (PMS), which

‘ I gratefully acknowledge Charles Abraham and Colin Walker for their comments and sugges-

2Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr. Anne Walker, Department tions on an earlier version of this manuscript.

of Psychology, University of Dundee, Dundee DDI 4HN, Scotland.

896

Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 1992,22, 11, pp. 896-909. Copyright Q 1992 by V. H. Winston 8 Son, Inc. All rights reserved

MENSTRUAL CYCLE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE 897

are assumed to affect large proportions of women, have been stated to be frequent causes of absenteeism, unreliability, poor productivity, and impaired academic performance (e.g., Dalton, 1960, 1968, 1984; Jones &Jones, 1981; Lever, 1979; Shreeve, 1983).

These views, however, have always been controversial. They have aroused heated debate in the letters columns of many Victorian journals (see Sho- Walter & Showalter, 1970) and have instigated considerable research activity. This extensive research has failed to support the view that women’s work is disrupted by dysmenorrhea or menstrual difficulties (Harlow, 1986). Sim- ilarly, women do not show any significant cyclical change in cognitive func- tion (see reviews by Asso, 1983; Sommer, 1973, 1982) or academic perform- ance (Bernstein, 1977; Sommer, 1972; Walsh, Budtz-Olsen, Leader, & Cummins, 1981). Severe PMS, which affects only about 3% to 4% of women (Andersch, Wendestam, Hahn, & Ohman, 1986), may be associated with slight performance deficits on measures of pursuit-tracking and fine motor coordination (Jensen, 1982; Posthuma, Bass, Bull, & Nisker, 1987). However, there is no evidence that the majority of women experience cyclical changes in work performance.

This robust empirical evidence does not appear to influence the American public as much as the popular stereotype of menstrual debility, since a large study has suggested that 89% of men and 66% of women believe that men- struating women do not function well a t work (Ruder & Finn, 1981). Addi- tionally, several studies have suggested that women are widely believed by both sexes to experience negative moods and physical symptoms around menstruation (Brooks-Gunn & Ruble, 1986; Koeske & Koeske, 1974; Parlee, 1974). The presence of such beliefs could be an important source of discrimi- nation against women in employment at a time when they are likely to form an increasing proportion of the workforce-an “Employment Gazette”(“Labour Force,” 1989) article predicts that women will form 44% of the U.K. work- force by 2000.

This study was designed as a preliminary investigation of the beliefs of British students about the influence of the menstrual cycle on work per- formance, specifically academic performance. The hypotheses generated were:

1. Respondents would consider the premenstrual and/ or men- strual cycle phases to negatively influence academic performance. 2. Male and female respondents would differ in their beliefs. Parlee (1973) suggested that men consider menstruation to be more debilitating than the premenstrual phase, while women do not hold this view. Hence, a difference might be expected in their assessments of its impact on performance.

898 ANNE WALKER

3. The menstrual cycle would be considered an important influ- ence on performance relative to other factors. Previous studies of attitudes and beliefs about menstruation have considered it in isolation from other factors and, hence, give little indication of its relative importance in assessing performance.

Method

Reviews of the methodology used in menstrual cycle research have sug- gested that studies which explicitly focus on menstruation may be invalidated by the possibility of stereotyped reporting (e.g., Parlee, 1973). Hence, the purpose of the study was disguised. Volunteers were asked to participate in a study of the use of information in decision making. They each read a short story about Jane, a student who had obtained a borderline mark on an exam, and were asked to decide whether she should pass or fail. A variety of information was given about Jane’s qualifications and academic record, as well as her personal and medical details. Three forms of the story were used, varying only in Jane’s menstrual status at the time of the exam. The respond- ents were asked to make the decision to pass or fail Jane and to then state which pieces of information were most important to them in making the decision. Nineteen factors taken from the story were then rated for impor- tance on Likert scales ranging from one to seven.

Subjects

The subjects for the study were undergraduate students of business studies, commerce, and accounting in either the first or second years oftheir courses at Dundee Institute of Technology. These students were chosen because their future careers would involve them in the employment of women. The total numbers participating and their distribution across courses, years of study, and form of questionnaire are shown in Table I . Despite the overall excess of female students, the proportion of men and women was not significantly different among the three experimental groups. The questionnaires were administered at the beginning of the summer term, with students being fully assured of anonymity. The subsequent debriefing sessions confirmed that the participants were ignorant of the real purpose of the study.

Materials

The materials used were three versions of a story about Jane followed by a series of 19 factors to be rated for their importance in decision making on Likert scales ranging from one to seven. The information given to the volun-

MENSTRUAL CYCLE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE 899

Table 1

Summary of Demographic Characteristics

A B C Statistics

N

Age X sd

Sex Male Female

Course Comm BS Acc

Year 1 2

64

20.19 3.56

25 39

27 15 22

35 29

65

19.88 2.29

30 35

29 16 20

37 28

62

19.33 1.84

23 39

24 15

23

35 27

F(2,189) = 1.95 p > .05

x(2) = 1.20 p > .05

x(4) = .66 p > .05

x(2) = .07 p > .05

Note. A = premenstrual questionnaire; B = menstrual questionnaire; C = midcycle questionnaire; sd = standard deviation; Comm = B.A. Commerce; BS = B.A. Busi- ness Studies; Acc = B.A. Accounting.

teers is shown in the appendix. The stories and questionnaire forms varied only in Jane’s menstrual status at the time of the exam-premenstrual (2 days before a period was due), menstrual (the first day of her period), or midcycle (2 weeks before a period was due).

The 19 factors extracted from the story and rated for degree of importance in decision making were: the day of the exam, previous qualifications, course work marks, motivation, death of grandfather, boyfriend problems, hayfever, menstrual status, poor sleep, family background, personality, not favorite subject, nervous, amount of revision, attendance at classes, age, bad luck, performance on other exams, and performance of classmates. An “other” category was also included to allow for the rating of any other factors from the story that might be considered relevant.

Design

Independent variables included the form of the questionnaire and the sex of the respondent. The three forms of the questionnaire (A: premenstrual,

900 ANNE WALKER

B: menstrual, C: midcycle) were distributed randomly to each group. Each respondent completed only one questionnaire. The dependent variables were the importance ratings on the Likert scales ranging from one to seven.

Procedure

The volunteers completed the questionnaires a t the end of an unrelated class held by the investigator at the beginning of the summer term. Question- naires were allocated randomly to all students attending the class and were completed and returned without the opportunity for discussion among stu- dents. The students were asked to participate in a study of the use of informa- tion in decision making and were fully assured of anonymity. The subsequent debriefing sessions confirmed that they were ignorant of the real purpose of the study.

Analysis

Data were collated and analyzed using the SPSS-PC+ statistical pack- age.

Results

An overwhelming majority of respondents decided that Jane should pass the exam. It is perhaps not surprising that students tended to be lenient in this situation. The two respondents who registered a fail verdict were omitted from further analysis on the grounds of consistency. Factors outlined in the “story” were clearly felt to mitigate in Jane’s favor.

The hypotheses were tested by calculating mean scores for all 19 question- naire factors in the three experimental groups and across the two sexes (Tables 2 and 3).

In each case the scores ranged from of no importance (1) to extremely important (7). Two-way analyses of variance were then conducted on all 19 variables (Table 4).

ANOVA results supported the first hypothesis with a highly significant questionnaire effect appearing on the variable of menstrual cycle (F(2,185) = 26.44, p < .OOl-Table 4). Closer examination of Figure 1 reveals that menstruation itself was considered to have a greater influence than the pre- menstrual phase ( t ( 127) = 2 . 2 9 , ~ < .05) and that the premenstrual phase was rated significantly higher than midcycle ( t ( 124) = 4.89, p < .001). The only other variable to show a questionnaire effect was lack of sleep, which showed a similar pattern. While the importance premenstrually and menstrually did not differ significantly ( t ( 127) = .02, p > .05), both premenstrual and menstrual

MENSTRUAL CYCLE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE 901

Table 2

Mean Scores for Each Variable and Rank of Importance for Female Subjects

Group (female subjects)

A B C Variable

N

Day

Qualifications

Course work

Motivation

Boyfriend

Hayfever

Menstrual cycle

Lack of sleep

Family

Personality

Dislikes subject

Nervous

Revision

Attendance

Age

Bad luck

Other exams

Class results

39

2.18 (18.5)

4.63 (7)

5.56 (2.5)

5.56 (2.5)

3.33 (14)

3.69 (12)

3.85 (9.5)

4.38 (8)

2.92 (16)

3.59 (13)

3.85 (9.5)

4.77 (6)

5.64 (1)

5.41 (4)

2.18 (18.5)

2.38 (17)

4.92 (5)

3.26 ( 1 5)

35

2.54 (17)

5.00 (6)

5.51 (4)

5.83 (3)

3.71 (15)

4.03 ( 1 1)

4.43 (9)

4.50 (8)

3.80 (13)

3.74 (14)

3.85 (12)

4.83 (7)

6.00 (1.5)

6.00 (1.5)

2.09 (18.5)

2.09 (18.5)

5.34 (5)

3.63 (15)

39

2.51 (16)

4.87 (6.5)

5.82 (1)

5.67 (4)

3.56 (13)

3.41 (15)

2.23 (18)

4.13(11)

3.49 (8)

4.05 (12)

3.51 (14)

4.87 (6.5)

5.72 (3)

5.74 (2)

2.21 (19)

2.26 (17)

5.26 (5)

4.18 (10)

Note. A = premenstrual questionnaire; B = menstrual questionnaire; C = midcycle questionnaire.

902 ANNE WALKER

Table 3

Mean Score of All Variables and Rank of Importance for Male Subjects

Groups (male subjects)

A B C Variable

N

Day

Qualifications

Course work

Motivation

Grandad’s death

Boyfriend

Hayfever

Menstrual cycle

Lack of sleep

Family

Personality

Dislikes subject

Nervous

Revision

Attendance

Age

Bad luck

Other exams

Class results

25

2.60 ( 1 7)

4.42 (6)

5.16 (3)

5.56 ( I )

3.88 (10)

3.48 (13)

4.12 (9)

3.24 (15)

4.32 (7)

3.16 (16)

3.36 (14)

3.72 (12)

4.20 (8)

4.72 (5)

5.40 (2)

2.28 (19)

2.52 (1 8)

4.84 (4)

3.80 (1 1)

30

3.27 (15)

4.03 (9)

5.10 (4)

5.34 (2)

3.50 (12)

3.07 (17)

3.17 (16)

4.13 (8)

4.33 (6.5)

3.30 (14)

3.80 (10)

3.37 (13)

4.33 (6.5)

4.83 (5)

5.37 (1)

1.83 (19)

2.37 (18)

5.23 (3)

3.70 ( 1 1)

23

2.13 (19)

3.87 (9)

5.13 (5)

5.22 (4)

4.14 (6)

3.09 (15)

3.22 (14)

2.35 (18)

3.35 (13)

3.65 ( I 1)

3.83 (10)

3.52 (12)

3.95 (7)

5.65 (1)

5.48 (2)

2.70 (17)

2.91 (16)

5.43 (3)

3.91 (8)

Note. A = premenstrual questionnaire; B = menstrual questionnaire; C = midcycle questionnaire.

MENSTRUAL CYCLE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE 903

phases differed from midcycle (t( 124) = 2.12, p < .05 and t( 125) = 2.04, p < .05, respectively).

The second hypothesis, however, was not supported. No sex differences emerged for the menstrual status variable, although differences did occur for qualifications, course work, nervousness, and revision. When results from the three questionnaire forms were amalgamated for these variables, it could be

Table 4

A N 0 VA Results for All Variables

Variable F( 2,187) F( 1,187) F(2,187) Questionnaire Sex Q X S

Day 2.14 0.62 0.79

Qualifications 0.19 12.47*** 1.59

Course work 0.17 8.59** 0.19

Motivation 0.17 2.79 0.52

Grandad's death 0.98 1.45 0.78

Boyfriend 0.19 2.04 I .56

Hayfever 2.04 0.66 2.13

Menstrual cycle 26.44*** 1.82 0.79

Lack of sleep 3.92* 2.98 1.19

Family 2.38 0.04 1.53

Personality 1.18 0.42 0.29

Dislikes subject 0.14 0.59 0.31

Nervous 0.32 6.05* 0.33

Revision 1.38 10.26** 2.14

Attendance 0.75 2.77 0.72

Age

Bad luck

Other exams

Class results

2.14 0.73 1.39

0.83 2.50 0.59

1.88 0.007 0.22

0.90 0.03 0.76

*p < 0.05. **p < 0.01. ***p < 0.0001.

904 ANNE WALKER

5 -

4 -

0, .C

U a a aJ V C

U

0

- e C a aJ II

Premenstrual Menstrual Questionnaire

Male N ~ i i

El Female N = I 1 2

MIQCYCle

Figure 1. Mean importance ratings of the menstrual cycle when respondents were told Jane was premenstrual, menstrual or midcycle.

seen that female subjects rated all of them to be significantly more influential than did male subjects (Table 5).

The third hypothesis concerned the relationship between menstrual status and other variables in their degree of attributed importance. The variables were ranked for importance in each of the questionnaire X sex combina-

Table 5

T-Test Results for Variables Showing Significant Sex Effects on ANOVA

Male Female

Mean (sd) Mean (sd) Variable ?( 187)

Qualifications 4.10 (1.65) 4.83 (1.24) 3.44***

Course work 5.13 (1.38) 5.64 (1.02) 2.93**

Nervous 4.13 (1.83) 4.82 (1.37) 3.00**

Revision 5.02 (1.79) 5.78 (1.07) 3.56***

*p < 0.05. **p < 0.01. ***p < 0.001.

MENSTRUAL CYCLE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE 905

tions (see figures in parentheses in Tables 2 and 3). Menstrual status achieved ranks of ninth (during menstruation), twelfth (premenstrual phase), and nineteenth (midcycle) overall. Here, however, differences did emerge between men and women-especially with regard to the premenstrual phase which men ranked as fifteenth in order of importance compared with a rank of 9.5 from the women’s questionnaires. Menstruation was placed eighth and ninth, respectively, and midcycle was eighteenth in both cases. In all combinations, the five factors considered to be of most importance were amount of revision, class attendance, motivation, course work marks, and having passed the other exams.

Discussion

The major conclusion to be drawn from this study is that these students believed being in the menstrual or premenstrual phases of the menstrual cycle might account for poor exam performance. This was an important finding because, unlike previous research (e.g., Ruder & Finn, 1981), the menstrual focus of the study was disguised. The present study also differed from those explicitly concerned with the menstrual cycle in that the relative importance of the beliefs could be assessed. Although men and women did feel that Jane’s exam result was influenced by her menstrual cycle, the results suggested that they considered it to be a minor influence compared with factors such as motivation, class attendance, and so forth. It would appear that, while people do not deny the effects of the menstrual cycle, they do not consider menstruation to be debilitating. This finding is substantiated in a study of women’s attitudes towards menstruation by Brooks, Ruble, and Clark (1977), in which only 32% of the sample considered menstruation to be debilitating. At the same time, however, only 12% denied any effect of menstruation.

These results reveal very little difference between the beliefs of men and women. This is surprising since previous studies have shown that, although men and women have similar ideas about which feelings change during the menstrual cycle, they differ in terms of when they think women experience these changes and how severe they are. Men tend to believe that menstrual changes are more severe than premenstrual ones, while women rate them equally (Brooks-Gunn & Ruble, 1986). Moreover, men rate changes during both phases as more severe than women do (Parlee, 1974). The only support for these findings in the present study came from the relative importance of all factors during the premenstrual and menstrual phases. Men rated menstrua- tion as more important, relative to other variables, than women did. They rated the time frame of 2 days before menstruation as less important than did women. This tends to suggest that beliefs about the influence of the menstrual

906 ANNE WALKER

cycle differ subtly between men and women, but not to any major degree. Further research is needed to elucidate these differences. It should be borne in mind that the subjects in this study were students, who may have an atypical knowledge of the menstrual cycle (Asso, 1986). The views of these particular students are relevant in this context, since their study disciplines suggest that they are potential employers in the future. However, their views cannot be generalized to people of different ages and backgrounds. Further investigations with current employers and groups representative of the general population would be beneficial.

The similarity between the beliefs of men and women suggests that the beliefs stem from a cultural origin rather than personal experience. The most likely explanation being that beliefs about the mood changes and physical experiences of women around menstruation are extrapolated to account for poor exam performance. In this respect, these students are following the same logic as authors such as Dalton and Shreeve, who assume that women with PMS will be less efficient during the “paramenstruum.” Objective studies of academic performance, however, have failed to support the idea of a menstrual or premenstrual deficit. Although slight cyclical changes are usually observed, they d o not reach statistical significance (Bernstein, 1977; Sommer, 1972; Walsh et al., 1981). The only studies which concluded the opposite (Dalton, 1960, 1968) did not assess their results statistically and, hence, must be treated with caution.

The existence of negative cultural beliefs about menstruation suggests that misattributions of the causes of behavior may occur (Rodin, 1976; Ruble, 1977). A poor result from an exam taken premenstrually or menstrually may be attributed to the believed effects of the menstrual cycle, even though the student is unlikely to perform any differently at other times of the cycle. Similarly, as Richardson (1989) points out, young women who believe that their intellectual performance is regularly disrupted are unlikely to pursue academic careers. Since discussion of menstruation and menstrual experi- ences is limited, especially among adolescents (Clark & Ruble, 1978; Lover- ing, 1990), these beliefs and their educational implications are likely to persist.

In conclusion, this study has established the existence of negative beliefs about academic performance around menstruation among students at a Scottish higher education institution. These beliefs, however, d o not appear to play a major role in decision making, although they may have educational and occupational implications. Further studies are needed to investigate the extent of such beliefs, whether they apply to other aspects of life-for exam- ple, athletic performance, driving ability, and so forth-whether they occur in other groups of people, and why menstruation is believed to have a negative effect.

MENSTRUAL CYCLE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE 907

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Appendix

Imagine that you have to make a decision about Jane, a student who has obtained a mark of 40% on an examination. This is a borderline mark-you have to decide whether she should pass or fail. You have available to you a variety of information from Jane’s past history and from an interview with a student counselor conducted the day before the exam.

Examination Information

The exam was held on Friday afternoon in the usual exam room under standard invigilation conditions. The range of marks was 30% to 67% with an average of 54%. It was the second of four well-spaced end of year exams, all the others of which she passed.

Educational Information

Jane is well qualified for the course and has attended most of the required classes. She has achieved reasonable, although not brilliant, marks for her course work. She has had occasional problems with various subjects but has usually managed to solve these with the help of her tutors.

Personal Information

Jane seems well motivated and hard working on the whole. She is quite a shy and anxious person, lacking in self confidence, who tends to be quiet in class. On the day before the exam she admitted to being nervous since she had had some problems with the subject in the past and did not enjoy it.

Jane lives locally and her home background is stable and supportive, although she was recently upset by the death of her grandfather (3 months before the exam). She has a steady boyfriend, but, as he is not a student, he does not always appreciate her need to study, which has led to occasional arguments recently.

Medical Information

Jane is 19 years old and is a healthy young woman. She has a tendency to hayfever during the summer months. Prior to the exam, she had not been sleeping well and was feeling tired as a result. Her menstrual cycles are normal and regular, the exam falling/ 2 weeks before her next period was due/ on the first day of her period/ 2 days before a period was due.