Psychology and wellbeing - A Dose of Oxytocin Hormone Increases Generosity

As new research connects oxytocin to trust and generosity. Neuroeconomist Paul J. Zak and his colleagues gave doses of oxytocin and a placebo to participants, who were then offered a blinded, one-time decision on how to split a sum of money with a stranger who could accept or reject the split.

Oxytocin, a hormone best known for activity during birth and lactation, is also a brain neurotransmitter involved in social recognition and bonding.

The results were overwhelming: Those given oxytocin offered 80% more money than those given a placebo.

In his experiments, Zak distinguishes between generosity and altruism by using tasks that involve one's innate motivation to give to others, and when another's plight must be considered.

"Oxytocin specifically and powerfully affected generosity using real money when participants had to think about another's feelings," Zak explains. "This result confirms our earlier work showing that oxytocin affects trust, but with a dramatically larger effect for generosity."

Oxytocin's effect on generosity is more than three times larger then his work from 2005, which demonstrated that oxytocin increases trust.

According to Zak, this means that although we are inherently altruistic, we are also generous when we feel empathy toward one another. It is empathy that causes us to open up our wallets and give generously to help strangers.

In previous studies, Zak has shown a relationship between oxytocin and trust, making a clear case that the ancient hormone causes a shift in brain chemistry that is evolutionarily important--the more we trust one another and cooperate, the more we all benefit together.

This research extends Zak's finding based on oxytocin and trust, which was published in Nature two years ago.

Adapted from Public Library of Science.