Oxytocin is a hormone meant to make people to love, trust, and be nicer with one another. However, experiments made by Jennifer Bartz’s group of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York city; have proven otherwise. oxytocin exaggerates whatever social tendencies a person already has, negative or positive. The hormone can make a trusting person become more trusting as well as it can make a very suspicious person become more hostile. Bartz’s team made an experiment in which groups played a computer game and the volunteers had to predict wether their partner would cooperate with them or not. Borderline personality players left the game early having high levels of suspicion, while more mentally healthy players were more cooperative. The pill was also proved to have an effect on men’s memories of their mothers. Men who had a good relationship with there mother would be brought back good memories, and those who didn't, would remember their mom as less caring and supportive after taking oxytocin. Oxytocin also stimulates more trust in one own ethnic group and less in other ethnicity's.
The experiment in the article was a hypothesis based science; Bart’z group found evidence using experiments such as the computer game, to prove their hypothesis.
The research is important to humans because there are many people who take this hormone such as people with autism and other phychiatric conditions with social difficulties. This news raises concerns to the consumers as well as the suppliers.
Bruce Bower, “The ‘love’ hormone has a dark side, “Humans” Society for personality and social psychology meeting January 27-29 page 15.
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