The 30th President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge and his wife Grace illustrate a curious anecdote that gave its name to this pattern of sexual behavior. The “Coolidge effect” exposes the response and behavior of a mammal to its sexual relations with one or more sexual partners in which the refractory period, that is, the time it takes to recover between one sexual practice and another after ejaculation , it can increase or decrease depending on whether you are going to have sex with the same partner or with a new one. What determines this pattern described in psychology and biology is that the recovery time is much shorter when the sexual act is to be performed with a new partner and much longer if it is repeated with the same partner.
The history
Grace Coolidge was a very popular first lady and her husband was extremely serious and taciturn. In fact, he once said, “I think the American people want a solemn ass as president,” he once told Ethel Barrymore, “and I think I’m going to go along with them .”
President Coolidge (1872-1933) and the First Lady, the story goes, were visiting a government-run experimental farm, but were teaching it to both of them separately, and as they passed the chicken coop, Mrs. Coolidge asked him tell one of the staff how many times a day the rooster rode the chickens.
“Dozens of times,” they told him.
“Tell that to the president when you pass by,” he said.
The president subsequently appeared to see the chickens, and the unfortunate worker relayed Mrs. Coolidge’s message.
“Tell me,” said the president, “does the rooster choose the same hen every time?”
“Oh no, a different one each time,” he replied.
“Please tell Mrs. Coolidge,” the president said.
Lust never sleeps
The biological explanation is due to the fact that, faced with the possibility of a new sexual relationship -with a different partner-, dopamine levels increase , conditioning or preparing us to be more active than usual, which results in an insignificant refractory period or null in the face of sex. On the contrary, when faced with a sexual relationship with the same partner, the limbic system, which manages physiological responses to emotional stimuli, does not react so quickly, necessitating a recovery time – of longer or shorter duration.
Thus, the ability to recognize individuals is an important aspect of social interactions, but it can also be useful to avoid repeated couples with the same individual. The Coolidge effect is the progressive decrease in a male’s propensity to mate with the same female combined with increased sexual interest in new females. Although males that recognize previous mates and show a preference for new females should have a selective advantage as they can distribute sperm evenly among the females they encounter, there are few invertebrate examples of the Coolidge effect.
In animals this behavior is more than frequent (despite the fact that humans have been socially inclined towards monogamy), where a male rat, for example, prefers to copulate with two different females than twice with the same one.
Across the spectrum of mammals, from dogs to dolphins, reproduction is a genetic imperative. And this imperative to fertilize with new females is related to the release of dopamine in the brain. Our genes have an ancient, general, and transpersonal imperative; seek new life and new fertilizations and copulate boldly with all willing and available potential partners.
