Study Suggests Oxytocin Makes People Trusting, but Not Gullible
Date: 8.9.2010
Oxytocin (OT) is a hormone that plays an important role in social behavior-it has even been nicknamed "the love hormone" and "liquid trust." Increased levels of OT have been associated with greater, caring, generosity, and trust. But does OT increase people's trust in just anybody or does it act more selectively?
Scientists investigated just how trusting OT can make us. In this experiment, volunteers received either a placebo or OT nasal spray. Then, they played a trust game.
The results showed that volunteers who received the OT nasal spray were more trusting. However, OT did not have an effect when it came to sharing with a seemingly unreliable partner-the volunteers were not generous towards a potentially unreliable partner, regardless of which nasal spray they received.
Original paper:
Moïra Mikolajczak et al. Oxytocin Makes People Trusting, Not Gullible. Psychological Science, (in press)
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