In a previous post about white collar crime, somehow the”DOI’s” got mixed up on Research Blogging and the following study was cited instead:
MILLER, G., TYBUR, J., JORDAN, B. (2007). Ovulatory cycle effects on tip earnings by lap dancers: economic evidence for human estrus?☆☆. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28(6), 375-381. DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.06.002
I think this is the correct reference (although who knows what’s lost in translation):
Mackenzie, S., Green, P. (2007). Performative Regulation: A Case Study in How Powerful People Avoid Criminal Labels. British Journal of Criminology, 48(2), 138-153. DOI: 10.1093/bjc/azm074
Here’s the Research Blogging screen shot:
So, instead of being about white collar criminals, the reference reported on female estrus and wage-earning in the sex-services industry — answering the query: do lap dancers make more money during certain phases of estrus? Here’s the “money quote” from the abstract:
Normally cycling participants earned about US$335 per 5-h shift during estrus, US$260 per shift during the luteal phase, and US$185 per shift during menstruation. By contrast, participants using contraceptive pills showed no estrous earnings peak.
Is this irony? Or was I destined to read the abstract?
What is the significance of this research?
More to the point: data validity. I would argue that this result is ambiguous if they are looking for correlation between estrus and wage earning: what about customers? Do the lap dancers get paid more when they work on their customers’ pay day (like, Fridays or the first or last of the month)? Is there a pay-day effect? How about a college-fraternity effect? What about the effect of peers — when customers have a peer with them are they more likely to pay more to impress their friends with their largess, so to speak?
As far as gender studies, if female lap dancers earn $335 on a good day for a 5 hour shift, that’s $67/hour. Do male equivalents earn as much?
Can these data be extrapolated to all female wage earners — that they’ll earn more in estrus? Are women in estrus more aggressive in seeking higher pay? Should female litigators arrange to have trials start so they make opening statements to the jury during estrus? Should all females avoid going on the pill (which is reported to eliminate the estrus effect) because that is too much of an economic hit, outweighing any economic savings of planning a family?
The irony of it all, it’s destiny. Full abstract copied after the jump.
Original article
Ovulatory cycle effects on tip earnings by lap dancers: economic evidence for human estrus?
Geoffrey Miller
, a, 
, Joshua M. Tybura and Brent D. Jordana
aDepartment of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Received 16 April 2007; accepted 26 June 2007. Available online 27 September 2007.
Abstract
To see whether estrus was really “lost” during human evolution (as researchers often claim), we examined ovulatory cycle effects on tip earnings by professional lap dancers working in gentlemen’s clubs. Eighteen dancers recorded their menstrual periods, work shifts, and tip earnings for 60 days on a study web site. A mixed-model analysis of 296 work shifts (representing about 5300 lap dances) showed an interaction between cycle phase and hormonal contraception use. Normally cycling participants earned about US$335 per 5-h shift during estrus, US$260 per shift during the luteal phase, and US$185 per shift during menstruation. By contrast, participants using contraceptive pills showed no estrous earnings peak. These results constitute the first direct economic evidence for the existence and importance of estrus in contemporary human females, in a real-world work setting. These results have clear implications for human evolution, sexuality, and economics.
The Lap dancer paper is kind of interesting. The authors point towards pheromonal influence on male observers.
I suppose the logic goes like this:
If Females that are fertile give off pheromones indicating as such, then Men are more aroused by these reproductively receptive females and thus tip better.
But of course, that assumes that the men can receive pheromones, and that their arousal translates to better tipping. And that the women’s performance is relatively constant throughout her estrous cycle.
In any event, I’m game for a replication study.
MH — Or, perhaps fertile females are more aggressive in seeking resources, maybe they have more energy than when they are post-estrus or maybe there is a “pms” effect – note, the lowest amount is while menstruating. In any event your point is taken — in order to find any causal relationship between fertility and earnings more data is in order — although I’m not going to encourage a replication study on this blog.