Researchers found that the "love hormone" Oxytocin keeps men committed in a relationship.
It's no secret that even committed men sometimes flirt with other women they find attractive. However, "social distance" ensures they keep a safe distance from each other. Therefore, researchers from the University of Bonn conducted a study to see whether the "love hormone" oxytocin was capable of erasing this distance. However, they found that the hormone led to just the opposite. Men in committed relationships under than influence of oxytocin kept an even greater distance from attractive women, according to a press release.
When people of opposite genders confront each other, subconsciously some rules begin to circulate at the back of their heads. Though they talk with each other, they maintain a distinct distance from each other, known to scholars as "social distance."
"When they are approached beyond a certain distance, participants in a conversation feel uncomfortable," said René Hurle¬mann, head of the research group that conducted the study at the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Bonn.
This "social distance" comes into the spotlight when a man and woman begin flirting. It is this initial encounter which decides the course of their relations - whether it has a future or not.
The study was conducted on 57 heterosexual men who were given either a placebo or a nasal spray of oxytocin before interacting with an attractive woman. Contrary to their expectation that the hormone will force the men to stand closer to the attractive woman, men in fact stood at an even greater distance.
"Here, oxytocin acted as a kind of 'fidelity hormone,'" said Dr. Hurlemann, executive senior physician at the university.
Another experiment was conducted during the same study where 40 heterosexual men were again given either a placebo or a nasal spray of oxytocin. They were then shown pictures of their partners and other woman to compare the two based on their attractiveness. Their brain activities were monitored.
Researchers noted that when men under the influence of oxytocin looked at their partner's picture, the reward system in their brain was more active, suggesting they found their partner more attractive. This led researchers to conclude that oxytocin may be responsible for monogamy in humans, which is not common in other mammals.
"This could also explain why people fall into depression or deep mourning after a separation from their partner: Due to the lack of oxytocin secretion, the reward system is understimulated, and is more or less in a withdrawal state," said Prof. Rene Hurlemann, executive senior physician at the university.
