Coolidge effect

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In biology and psychology, the Coolidge effect is the growing tiredness that occurs when an individual repeatedly copulates with the same mating partner without alternation .

Scientific experiments

In the initial experiments in 1956 was to male rats demonstrated that repeated intercourse dampens the sexual appetite of the male with the same female. On the other hand, a constant or constant high level of sexual activity can be observed whenever other females are offered.

In the Beach and Jordan experiments, a male rat was placed in a cage with four to five females. It has been observed that the male repeatedly mated with all the females until he was completely exhausted. From this point on, the male did not respond to any further stimulation from the females. If another female was placed in the cage, another act of mating with the new female could be observed despite the previous exhaustion. The phenomenon observed in the experiments with brown rats is not restricted to this species. In general, the effect is based on an increase in the dopamine level and the resulting effects on the limbic system and the nucleus accumbens .

In most cases the Coolidge effect is demonstrated on male individuals. However, experiments were also performed to determine whether the effect also occurs in female individuals. The experiments were carried out with hamsters and led to the result that the effect, although less pronounced, also occurs in females.

In humans, a similar relationship was found between a new partner and the sperm count and quality of the ejaculate. It has been observed that men who consume pornographic material with constant actresses over a period of time after a new actress is added now ejaculate faster, more and in higher quality.

Origin of the term

The effect is named after a contemporary anecdote about US President Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933): The President and his wife Grace Coolidge visited a model yard and were shown around separately. When she was amazed that there was only one rooster in the hen house, she was told that the rooster mates dozens of times a day. Mrs. Coolidge is said to have said: “Tell my husband that.” When the latter found out about it later, he asked: “The same hen every time?” - “No, every time a different one.” Then Coolidge: “Say that my wife."

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Franka A. Beach and Lisbeth Jordan: Sexual Exhaustion and Recovery in the Male Rat . In: Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology , Vol. 8 (1956), pp. 121-133, ISSN  0033-555X .
  2. ↑ Arthur S. Reber and Emily S. Reber: The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology . 3rd ed. Penguin, London 2001, ISBN 0-14-051451-1 ; RE Brown: Sexual arousal. The Coolidge effect and dominance in the rat (Rattus norvegicus) . In: Animal Behavior , Vol. 22 (1974), pp. 634-637, ISSN  0003-3472 . ( doi : 10.1016 / S0003-3472 (74) 80009-6 ).
  3. ↑ James R. Wilson, Robert E. Kuehn and Franka A. Beach: Modifications in the Sexual Behavior of Male Rats Produced by Changing the Stimulus Female . In: Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology , Vol. 56 (1963), pp. 636-644, ISSN  0021-9940 .
  4. ↑ Dennis F. Fiorino, Ariane Coury, Anthony G. Phillips: Dynamic changes in nucleus accumbens dopamine efflux during the Coolidge effect in male rats . In: The Journal of Neuroscience , 1997 Jun, 17:12, pp. 4849-4855, ISSN  0270-6474 ( abstract ).
  5. ↑ Gillian L. Lester and Boris B. Gorzalka: Effect of novel and familiar mating partners on the duration of sexual receptivity in the female hamster . In: Behavioral and Neural Biology , 1988 May; 49 (3): 398-405, ISSN  0163-1047 ; See John Pinel: Biopsychology . 6th ed. And Robert D. Lisk and G. Baron: Female Regulation of Mating Location and Acceptance of new Mating Partners Following Mating to Sexual Satiety. The Coolidge Effect Demonstrated in the Female Golden-Hamster . In: Behavioral and Neural Biology , Vol. 36 (1982), Issue 4, pp. 416-421, ISSN  0163-1047 .
  6. ↑ Paul N. Joseph, Rakesh K. Sharma, Ashok Agarwal, Laura K. Sirot . Men Ejaculate Larger Volumes of Semen, More Motile Sperm, and More Quickly when Exposed to Images of Novel Women