Examining the Effects of Menstruation on Discretionary Behavior Among Women at Work

As the number of women in the workforce continues to grow, research on the effects of gender in the workplace is becoming increasingly critical. The discussion of biological processes, such as menstruation, has recently entered the public discourse and generated debate about how such issues should be addressed in the workplace (e.g., implementation of period policies and menstrual leave). Using self-regulation theory as an overarching framework and incorporating research from endocrinology, we advance this discussion by examining the effects of menstruation on discretionary behaviors in the workplace. In doing so, we introduce a predictable, frequent, and regularly occurring within- person shift in a large portion of the working population. Using experience sampling methodology (ESM), we capture daily experiences and behaviors from 96 women over 20 workdays (Level-1 n = 1640). Results indicated that pain experienced by women on the days they were menstruating was responsible for an increase in daily deple...