A new study conducted at the University of Haifa found that the hormone oxytocin, known as the "love hormone" and affecting behaviors such as trust, empathy and generosity, also affects behaviors of a completely different type such as jealousy and joy
A new study conducted at the University of Haifa found that the hormone oxytocin, known as the "love hormone" and affecting behaviors such as trust, empathy and generosity, also affects behaviors of a completely different type such as jealousy and joy for one's self. "Following the findings, we assume that the hormone is related to strengthening social emotions in general - if the situation is positive, the hormone will strengthen pro-social behaviors, and if the situation is negative, the hormone will strengthen the negative emotions," said Dr. Simone Shamai Tzuri, who conducted the study, which was published in Biological magazine Psychiatry.
It is already known from previous studies that the hormone oxytocin has a positive effect on positive emotions. This hormone is released naturally in the body during childbirth and during intercourse. Subjects who inhaled the synthetic form of the hormone showed higher levels of altruistic feelings and the assumption is that the hormone plays an important part in establishing contact between humans.
In previous studies, Dr. Shamai Tzuri discovered that laboratory mice that inhale the hormone express higher levels of aggressiveness, so she wanted to check if the hormone also affects negative social emotions. In the current study, 56 subjects participated - some inhaled the synthetic hormone and some received a placebo (dummy drug ). - a computer. Each subject was asked to choose from three doors and he won an amount of money that was hidden behind the door he chose. Occasionally the subject earned less money than the other player and occasionally more than the other player - which created conditions for feelings of jealousy or joy.
The findings show that the subjects who received the "love hormone" showed higher levels of jealousy when the "competitor" in front of them won more money than they did and reported higher levels of happiness for their partner when they won more money. Another interesting finding was that once the game was over, no differences were found between the subjects regarding these feelings - which means that the negative feelings were only intensified during the game.
"Following the previous findings of experiments with oxytocin, they began to investigate the use of the hormone as a drug in various disorders such as autism. The findings of the current study show that its unwanted behavioral effects should also be checked before proceeding further," concluded Dr. Shamai Tzuri.
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This is just slander.
The article shows how much caution is necessary in any claim regarding the origin of emotions and cognitive abilities from evolutionary processes. In recent years, scientists have been competing to prove the genetic dictation of all human and other animal actions by the power of evolutionary construction, and are losing the willingness for basic logical thinking.