Recent Research with the Hygiene Centre

At the Hygiene Centre I developed and managed a growing program of experimental and naturalistic research on human motivation and behavior change with particular relevance to hygiene behaviors. I managed an infrared sensor system in London which measured actual hand washing behavior in real time and in response to messages. We are currently preparing a manuscript about the relationship between hand washing and the media focus on H1N1 in the months between May 2009 and January 2010.

Progesterone, Disgust and Disease Avoidance

My doctoral dissertation centered on the effects of progesterone on women's psychology. The rationale for this research is anchored in the endocrinology of immunity. Progesterone causes the downregulation of pro-inflammatory immune responses. This immunomodulation facilitates pregnancy by preventing the woman's immune system from attacking the half-foreign blastocyst. Because of adaptive immunomodulation, women face a critical problem during the high progesterone, or luteal, phase of the menstrual cycle, as the relaxation of inflammatory responses temporarily leaves women more vulnerable to infection. My research investigates the behavioral prophylaxis hypothesis, the idea that patterned changes in attitudes and emotions can lead to alterations in behavior that mitigate or compensate for a reduction in immune function. The draft of this paper is under review

The Fertile Window and Risk Sensitivity

Another facet of my research examines menstrual cycle changes in the psychology of avoiding sexual assault. There is some evidence that women engage in fewer actions that would put them at risk for sexual assault(e.g. taking out the trash alone at night) when they are in the most fertile phase of their menstrual cycle. Carin Perilloux, David Buss and I have extended this research using ovulation tests and a comprehensive battery of questions investigating recent social activities, attitudes, and behaviors. We have found a that women show a decrease in such risky behavior as their conception risk increases. Substantiating the hormonal basis of such changes we found that women on hormonal contraceptives (i.e. women who do not experience cyclic shifts in hormone levels) do not show shifts in these behaviors across the menstrual cycle. We were invited to revise and resubmit this paper.

Disgust and Sexual Arousal

In collaboration with Lisa Dawn Hamilton, Cindy Meston and Daniel M.T. Fessler a research methodology has been developed examining the relationship between disgust and sexual arousal. Using the vaginal plethysmograph, an instrument used to measure sexual arousal in women we have found that disgust stimuli decrease sexual arousal and that sexually aroused women are more disgust sensitive than women viewing control stimuli.

Other Research

Currently Carin Perilloux, David Buss and I have finished manuscripts regarding how parents influence the sexual and romantic lives of their sons and daughters differently. Ongoing research with Daniel M.T. Fessler examines effects of menopause on disgust sensitivity, endocrine and social cues on homosocial and homosexual attitudes and the influence of disgust cues on behavior. Other ongoing collaborations examine sexual dimorphism and circadian effects on the psychology of disease avoidance.