Oxytocin, a hormone of recognized effects, is the key to human happiness. Released when we play sports, dance or give a hug to someone, it seems that she can also be responsible for loyalty among couples, according to neuroscience magazine, German researchers have ensured that oxytocin (an essential hormone for childbirth), when administered to men, makes them more faithful. Oxytocin, or happiness hormone, as it might be called, will become an aid to monogamous relationships.
This hormone, which is produced in the hypothalamus, is absolutely necessary during childbirth and lactation, and is also directly related to the creation of social ties (family, partner) and increased confidence among individuals. Scientists wanted to determine the role of this chemical in maintaining monogamous relationships. In this research, led by René-Hurlemann of the University of Bonn, scientists administered oxytocin or placebo to a group of heterosexual men. After half an hour, a woman was shown, later described as “seductive. “The woman should overlook the volunteers and indicate the distance at which she should remain, is this distance take into account?or ‘dangerous’.
- Experts found that married or committed men who received oxytocin maintained a much greater distance than those given a placebo when the unknown woman tried to seduce them; however.
- Oxytocin had no effect on isolated volunteers.
- Previous research with rats has already identified oxytocin as the key to the fidelity of animal species.
The new study shows that oxytocin may play a similar role in humans. Oxytocin is known to increase confidence among people. For this reason, men under the influence of this hormone were supposed to be closer to attractive women, but the opposite happened, Hurlemann explains. Men who had a stable relationship and received oxytocin were further away from women than singles.
The effect of oxytocin on single men did not change their attitude towards women, both those who took the hormone and those given a placebo. Experience also revealed that oxytocin had no effect on men when presented to another man. Therefore, this study suggests that the overall role of oxytocin in promoting monogamous behavior is preserved from rodents to humans.