Interpreting data collected from the Ava app
Author: Kaylee Phimmasene | Major: Psychology | Semester: Fall 2022
My name is Kaylee Phimmasene, and I am currently a senior majoring in psychology in the Fulbright College for Arts and Sciences. I began my research during the fall semester of 2022 under the mentorship of Dr. Anastasia Makhanova, who is also in the psychology department. After graduation, I plan on obtaining a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology and continuing my path in research.
In Spring of 2021, I took Dr. Anastasia Makhanova’s social psychology course and joined her lab as a research assistant the following semester. Through her course as well as helping the graduate students on their studies within the lab, I learned how broadly social psychology extends into other domains such as biology and women’s reproductive health.
In the past, researchers have investigated how women’s psychology changes during the menstrual cycle. The menstrual cycle is a naturally occurring, monthly process that most women experience when they are of reproductive age. It can be broken down into three distinct phases: follicular, ovulatory, and luteal. Throughout these phases, ovarian hormones such as progesterone and estrogen are in constant fluctuation. These studies have examined the different effects both the ovulatory and luteal phases have on women’s psychology; however, they focus solely on how these two cycle phases impact social perception (i.e., mate attraction and relationship quality). My mentor and I noticed that, currently, there is little research that studies how both the ovulatory and luteal phases affect social motivation and affiliative behavior, thus we created my thesis project in attempt to fill this empirical gap in knowledge.
Sociality (i.e., affiliative behavior) can be further broken down into either romantic or platonic sociality. Romantic sociality describes interactions that occur between a person and their partner or a potential partner. Platonic sociality is different in that it describes interactions that occur between a person and their family, friends, or pets. These interactions do not involve any type of romance. For my study, I first hypothesize that the trend for general sociality across the two phases will be high during ovulation but lower during the luteal phase. The second predication is that when women are ovulating, romantic sociality will be more prominent than platonic sociality. I also predict that the opposite will be true once women enter the luteal phase.
In order to look at how the menstrual cycle effects may differ depending on the target of affiliation, I designed the project as a daily diary study. I asked women to complete a survey that I designed in Qualtrics every evening asking about their desire to affiliate with friends, family, romantic partners, and strangers. To pinpoint ovulation and the subsequent luteal phase, I also had participants wear Ava bracelets every night for one full menstrual cycle (roughly 30 days) and sync the bracelet to its corresponding app the following morning. These bracelets collect biometric data (i.e., sleep, heart rate variability, and body temperature) that have been found to reliably predict the onset of ovulation.
After my first semester of running the study, I was able to get 12 participants and begin transferring all the data collected into excel sheets. Although this is a seemingly low number, I could not be happier with where I am in the study. Creating the surveys, finding eligible participants, and familiarizing myself with the Ava bracelets was a long and tedious process, but now that that is all complete, the study should run much smoother. Next semester, I plan on running 30 more participants and interpreting all the data collected by April so that I may defend my thesis in May. I also plan to present my findings at the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society conference in April.
The Honors College Research grant is truly what enabled me to do this project as it gave me the opportunity to create a study so unique and complex. Each Ava bracelet costs nearly $300, so this money allowed me to obtain multiple bracelets so that I may run more participants at a time. Additionally, the grant made it possible for me to increase incentive for my study. Because I am tracking women for roughly 30 days, I am offering raffles to win one of five $100 gift cards in attempt to draw in more participants as well as encourage data collection. My entire thesis project would not be possible without this grant, and for it, I am so grateful.
Although this project is extremely ambitious and has already proven to be difficult, it has solidified my passion for research. Through all of the trials and breakthroughs, I want to keep asking questions and designing projects that can answer them. After I graduate, I plan to obtain a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology and continue my career as a researcher.