A total of 171 female subjects completed a self‐report questionnaire dealing with activation (AD‐ACL) during the premenstrual and menstrual phases of their cycles. Significant variation between the two phases was found for all four activation factors: activation was highest premenstrually. Contraceptive use interacted significantly with cycle phase for the General Activation factor. Subjects taking oral contraceptive preparations also had lower scores on the Deactivation‐Sleep factor.