Johnston et al. Person Perception MENSTRUAL INFLUENCES ON PERSON PERCEPTION: MALE SENSITIVITY TO FLUCTUATING FEMALE FERTILITY Lucy Johnston University of Canterbury Lynden Miles University of Canterbury Clare Carter University of Bath C. Neil Macrae University of Aberdeen Successful reproduction may rely on rapid and accurate categorization of the sex of potential mates. In this regard, women have been shown to dis- play enhanced sensitivity to reproductively–relevant stimuli (e.g., male faces) during phases of high conception risk. But what of male responses to potential female mates? Specifically, are men sensitive to cyclic fluctua- tions in female fertility? To investigate this issue, male participants com- pleted a person–construal task in which they were required to categorize targets (men and women) by sex. The female targets comprised a group of normally ovulating women and a group of women taking the contracep- tive pill. Photographs of each target were taken during phases of high– and low–fertility (or equivalent time points for woman on the pill). The results revealed that men were faster to categorize women at menstruation than at ovulation/mid–cycle. These findings are considered in terms of adaptive person perception and mate selection. Social Cognition, Vol. 23, No. 3, 2005, pp. 279-290 279 Address for correspondence to Dr. Lucy Johnston, Department of Psychology, Univer- sity of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand; E–mail: lucy.johnston@canterbury.ac.nz