Oxytocin Helps Us Love, And Lie

You've heard the expression, every cloud has a silver lining?  Well, how about every silver lining has a cloud?

 A new study has found that the very same hormone that helps us love also helps us lie.

 Say what?  Oxytocin - the "love" hormone produced by the body to encourage bonding - may also help us to lie -- but here's the silver lining.  To the benefit of our group.

 Oxytocin -- which has sometimes been confused (at least by me) for oxycodone, a way to curb pain (and get high) --  has been demonstrated in research as "promoting bonding in couples and between mothers and babies, and is also thought to drive people's impulse to be sociable," according to medicalnewtoday.com.
The more oxytocin a person has, the more empathy and trust they will have, as well as lower social anxiety and fear response. Oxytocin can also stimulate aggression, if it is required for reasons of defense, medicalnewstoday reports.
Oxytocin can also keep men monogamous, according to Time, by making romantic partners look more attractive to each other than strangers, at least to men.
And some even say it can be a healing hormone, as well as a diet aid, and, in the end, what makes us human.  
But back to the lies. Scientists did an experiment where they divided participants into two teams and had each flip coins and guess which side the coins would fall on.  Those who were given oxytocin lied.  Twice as much.  But it was probably to help their team.  
"Our results suggest people are willing to bend ethical rules to help the people close to us, like our team or family," medicalnewstoday quotes one of the study authors. 



 .

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Herbal Supplements? Even Green Tea Extract Can Lead to Liver Damage

Take herbal supplements? You might want to listen up. A new study is warning that new information is showing that some supplements may damage the liver, along with over the counter drugs and even those prescribed by physicians, according to newswise.com. The rate of drug-induced liver injury (DILI), a rare adverse drug reaction which is challenging to diagnose -- and which can lead to jaundice, liver failure and even death -- is increasing more and more.  Experts put it down to the overwhelming use of herbal supplements and other drugs in the last 10 years.  “A lot of consumers have a preconceived notion that if it’s a natural product, it must be safe. But that is not necessarily the case,” the Web site quotes Herbert Bonkovsky, MD, FACG, co-author of the guidelines. “Most of these products are not well-regulated and have very little oversight. Traces of heavy metals and prescription drugs have even been found in some herbal and dietary supplements. We encourage patients to
Read more

Social Media Replacing Human Contact? Nah

I used to think my son only talked to his "girlfriend" (did I mention he'll be 12 in June?) in school.  Then I happened to walk by his computer and saw her on his screen.  They Skype.  About three hours a day.  Then I got it.  It's real.  Kids mostly communicate electronically these days. But Joe McKendrick at smartplanet.com believes there are reasons social media won't completely replace face-to-face interactions.  For one, there's less distraction.  If you're sitting at your computer, you're scanning for emails or googling or watching the news, in addition to talking to someone.  When you're actually with someone, it's harder to do this -- though, Joe, are you living on Mars? Have you never seen a teen texting at the table, while talking to you, or God forbid, driving? Most of McKendrick's points have to do with the office, and meeting in person to do business rather than connecting online.  I have to admit here, it makes sense.  He
Read more

Be Humble. Your Employees May Work Harder

You wouldn't know it from our current crook- er - commander-in-chief but it pays to be humble , new research is showing. It’s good to be humble when you’re the boss – as long as that’s what your employees expect, according to newswise.com. Researchers studying workplaces in China found that some real-life teams showed more creativity if the employees rated their bosses as showing more humility. “Whether leader humility is a good thing really depends on the team members’ expectations,” says  Jia (Jasmine) Hu , lead author of the study and associate professor of  management and human resources  at The Ohio State University’s  Fisher College of Business . Humble leaders are most effective when team members expect a low degree of distance between the leaders and followers, Hu explains. When there is "low power distance" (I assume, this means when the boss is humble), employees share power with their boss in a collaborative way. But humility may be seen as a weaknes
Read more