Temperamental traits are significantly related to the chance of fertilization and the success of getting pregnant using the IVF method. Polish scientists were the first in the world to precisely show that female temperament is related to the levels of reproductive hormones - estradiol and progesterone.

It is easier for women with sanguine temperament to get pregnant than for women with a melancholy disposition. Biologists, psychologists and anthropologists from the Polish Academy of Sciences, SWPS, UWr and the Jagiellonian University have proven thattemperamentof women is related to the levels of reproductive hormones in the menstrual cycle, and thus has an impact onfertility . The results of the conducted research show that women distinguished by activity, endurance, mental balance and greater resistance to stress have twice the level of estradiol than women who are less active, less endurance, more sensitive and mentally less resistant. Thus, the female type of sanguine has a higher probability offertilization . Sanguines also have a better progesterone profile than melancholic women, more conducive to embryo implantation in case of fertilization.

Stress hinders conception

- This discovery will help understand why IVF treatments are ineffective for some women. It happens that they do not bring the expected effect, although the woman is he althy from the physiological point of view. In such cases, instead of using expensive pharmacotherapy aimed at increasing the level of reproductive hormones, psychological treatments can be used to reduce stress, especially since the use of drugs is not indifferent to he alth, argues Ziomkiewicz-Wichary, research coordinator at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Wrocław.
- The solution may be cognitive-behavioral therapy - adds Dr. Szymon Wichary from the Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities. - There are studies that prove its effectiveness and a positive effect on reproductive functions, including the restoration of ovulation in women in whom it was disturbed. Our research suggests that such treatments should be especially effective for women who are more prone to stress and therefore melancholic in nature, she says.

As the researchers explain, temperament influences the stress response, and the main subject of the research is the influence of psychosocial stress on female reproductive functions. Investigationeffects of stress would not be possible without examining the temperament, and thus individual differences in reactivity to stress.
The research project was carried out in 2008-2010 in Wrocław on a group of 150 women of reproductive age (25-35 years). During one entire menstrual cycle, the subjects took urine samples, the analysis of which allowed to determine the level of reproductive hormones - estradiol and progesterone. The participants of the study completed anxiety, stress and temperament questionnaires as well as lifestyle questionnaires regarding diet and physical activity. The subjects were also carefully measured and weighed. On the basis of the results of the questionnaire, scientists distinguished temperamental groups corresponding to popular types of temperament - sanguine and melancholic.
The project was carried out under the supervision of Dr. Anna Ziomkiewicz-Wichary from the Department of Anthropology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Wrocław by a team of scientists consisting of enter Dr. Szymon Wichary from the Interdisciplinary Center for Applied Cognitive Research SWPS, mgr Dorota Bochenek from the Department of Anthropology of the University of Wrocław, prof. Bogusław Pawłowski from the Department of Anthropology of the University of Wrocław and dr hab. Grażyna Jasieńska from the Department of Epidemiology and Population Research, Collegium Medicum of the Jagiellonian University.

High School of Social Psychology

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