Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:29:1
Ayinde O. Chase - AHN Editor
Haifa, Israel (AHN) - The hormone oxytocin generally is associated with behaviors such as trust, empathy and generosity but according to researchers from the University of Haifa it also affects anti-social behaviors like jealousy, envy and gloating.
Simone Shamay-Tsoory who carried out the research says “Subsequent to these findings, we assume that the hormone is an overall trigger for social sentiments: when the person's association is positive, oxytocin bolsters pro-social behaviors; when the association is negative, the hormone increases negative sentiments.”
Oxytocin is released in the body naturally during childbirth and during sexual activity. Arevious studies have shown that the oxytocin hormone has a positive effect on positive feelings. When a synthetic version was inhaled study participants displayed higher levels of altruistic feelings. Anecdotal evidence has been shown that that the hormone plays an important role in the formation of relationships between people. Yet when the hormone was tested on rodents in previous studies instances of aggression were noted.
In an experiment centered around money the findings show that those participants who inhaled the "hormone of love" displayed higher levels of envy when the opponent won more money and of gloating when they were ahead. Another interesting result was that as soon as the game the experiment participants were playing was over, no differences between the participants were evident with regards to these sentiments. This indicates that the negative feelings were empowered only in the course of the game itself.
Researchers are now considering the possibility of using oxytocin to treat various disorders such as autism.
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