Coolidge effect

The Coolidge effect is a biological phenomenon seen in animals, whereby males exhibit renewed sexual interest whenever a new female is introduced, even after sex with prior but still available sexual partners.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] To a lesser extent, the effect is also seen among females with regard to their mates.^[3]

The Coolidge effect can be attributed to an increase in sexual responsiveness, and a shortening of the sexual refractory period.^[5] The evolutionary benefit to this phenomenon is that a male can fertilize multiple females.^[6] The male may be reinvigorated repeatedly for successful insemination of multiple females.^[7] This type of mating system can be referred to as polygyny, where one male has multiple female mates, but each female mates with only one or a few males.^[5] The Coolidge effect has been demonstrated to occur in humans across cultures and in both sexes.^[8]

^ Reber, Arthur S.; Reber, Emily Sarah; Allen, Rhianon (2001). The Penguin dictionary of psychology. Penguin reference (3rd ed.). London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-051451-3.
^ Brown, Richard E. (1974). "Sexual arousal, the coolidge effect and dominance in the rat (rattus norvegicus)". Animal Behaviour. 22 (3): 634–637. doi:10.1016/S0003-3472(74)80009-6.
^ ^a ^b Lester, Gillian L.L.; Gorzalka, Boris B. (1988). "Effect of novel and familiar mating partners on the duration of sexual receptivity in the female hamster". Behavioral and Neural Biology. 49 (3): 398–405. doi:10.1016/S0163-1047(88)90418-9. PMID 3408449.
^ Pinel, John P. J. (2007). Biopsychology (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson Allyn and Bacon. ISBN 978-0-205-42651-5.
^ ^a ^b Colman, Andrew Michael (2009). A dictionary of psychology (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199534067. OCLC 260204714.
^ Cite error: The named reference Tlachi-López was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Carlson, N. (2013). Reproductive Behavior. In Physiology of Behavior (11th ed., p. 332). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
^ Buss, David M. (2016) [1994]. The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating (3rd ed.). New York: Basic Books. pp. 125–127. ISBN 978-0465097760.

[1] Reber, Arthur S.; Reber, Emily Sarah; Allen, Rhianon (2001). The Penguin dictionary of psychology. Penguin reference (3rd ed.). London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-051451-3.

[2] Brown, Richard E. (1974). "Sexual arousal, the coolidge effect and dominance in the rat (rattus norvegicus)". Animal Behaviour. 22 (3): 634–637. doi:10.1016/S0003-3472(74)80009-6.

[Lester-3] Lester, Gillian L.L.; Gorzalka, Boris B. (1988). "Effect of novel and familiar mating partners on the duration of sexual receptivity in the female hamster". Behavioral and Neural Biology. 49 (3): 398–405. doi:10.1016/S0163-1047(88)90418-9. PMID 3408449.

[Biopsych-4] Pinel, John P. J. (2007). Biopsychology (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson Allyn and Bacon. ISBN 978-0-205-42651-5.

[Andrew_Colman-5] Colman, Andrew Michael (2009). A dictionary of psychology (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199534067. OCLC 260204714.

[Tlachi-López-6] Cite error: The named reference Tlachi-López was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[7] Carlson, N. (2013). Reproductive Behavior. In Physiology of Behavior (11th ed., p. 332). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

[8] Buss, David M. (2016) [1994]. The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating (3rd ed.). New York: Basic Books. pp. 125–127. ISBN 978-0465097760.

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