The Coolidge effect is a biological phenomenon seen in animals, whereby males exhibit renewed sexual interest whenever a new female of reproductive availability is introduced, even after sex with prior but still available sexual partners. To a lesser extent, the effect is also seen among females with regard to their mates.
The Coolidge effect can be attributed to an increase in sexual responsiveness, and a shortening of the sexual refractory period. The evolutionary benefit to this phenomenon is that a male can fertilize multiple females. The male may be reinvigorated repeatedly for successful insemination of multiple females. This type of mating system can be referred to as polygyny, where one male has multiple female mates, but each female mates with only one or a few males. The Coolidge effect has been demonstrated to occur in humans across cultures and in both sexes.
Origin of the term
In a 1974 letter, behavioral endocrinologist Frank A. Beach claims to have introduced the term "Coolidge effect" in either 1958 or 1959. He attributed the neologism to an old joke about Calvin Coolidge when he was President of...
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