Could it be the pill?

Yesterday I posted about recent research showing that women have a preference for men of their own race in speed dating situations. I was puzzling about a possible evolutionary explanation for this result when I remembered that I'd read about research showing that women who are pregnant or taking the pill (because taking the pill works by tricking the body into thinking you're already pregnant) prefer men who smell similar to themselves (see here and here for example). Could it simply be that the female subjects in the experiment were taking the pill and that this was causing them to prefer men that were perceived as being more similar (i.e. of the same race)?

Women are more racist than men?

At least when it comes to choosing a mate in speed dating, according to the latest research:

reported in a forthcoming article in the Review of Economic Studies. Women of all the races we studied revealed a strong preference for men of their own race: White women were more likely to choose white men; black women preferred black men; East Asian women preferred East Asian men; Hispanic women preferred Hispanic men. But men don't seem to discriminate based on race when it comes to dating. A woman's race had no effect on the men's choices.

Mind you men went for good looking women that they perceived to be less intelligent and have less career ambition than themselves so men don't get off the hood completely.
HT: The Undercover Economist