Ebbs and flows: A within-person study of menstruation and work performance.

Abstract

Worker experiences are influenced by natural bodily fluctuations, yet these effects are rarely acknowledged by research, organizations, or society. For example, most women experience their menstrual cycle for most of their career, yet the relationship between women's menstrual cycle and work outcomes has received limited attention from organizational scholars and decision-makers. In this study, we explore how menstruation indirectly affects women's perceived daily work performance as mediated by emotional and self-control and how menstrual pain moderates these relationships. Drawing on theories of human energy and biological evidence related to the menstrual cycle, we conceptualize menstruation as an internal, chronic, and intermittent stressor that depletes potential energy, thereby limiting women's ability to engage in emotional and self-control, which in turn affect work behaviors. Given menstrual pain varies between individuals and throughout cycles, we conceptualize menstrual pain as a distinct internal stressor that can further deplete internal resources, moderating the relationship between menstruation and work behaviors. Results across 108 participants, over 30 consecutive days, indicate that compared with nonmenstruating days, when menstruating, women perceive a decreased capacity to engage in emotional and self-control. This in turn affected perceptions of their task performance, organizational citizenship behaviors, and work withdrawal. Menstrual pain amplified the relationship between menstruation and performance through emotional control, but not through self-control. Our findings emphasize how bodily fluctuations, specifically through the lens of menstruation, impact performance and underscore the need for employees, organizations, and society to move beyond ignoring these fluctuations to instead integrate them into workplace practices. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).