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The love hormone prevents men from cheating

 
, medical expert
Last reviewed: 29.11.2021
 
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16 November 2012, 11:00

The hormone oxytocin is the so-called "love hormone", except that it improves understanding between a woman and a man, as it turns out, also helps men to remain faithful to their second half.

«The hormone of love

The hormone oxytocin was also found in the negative effect that it has on a person - it provokes an unreasonable aggression and diminishes the confidence in people around them. But now he is fully justified, at least by women for sure.

Read also: How does love change your body chemistry?

As already known, the "love hormone" supports monogamy in wild animals. Scientists from the University of Bonn are interested in whether oxytocin can reduce the likelihood of adultery in humans.

To conduct the experiment, experts invited 86 heterosexual men. They were divided into two groups: using a nasal spray, one group was administered a dose of oxytocin, and the other - a placebo. After that, all the subjects were assigned a date with attractive girls. Experts have set men the task of determining what distance with a woman will be most comfortable for them to just talk.

As it turned out, oxytocin "moves" away those men who are already in a romantic relationship, but it does not affect free participants. They were comfortable communicating at a distance of 50 to 60 cm compared to the "busy" gentlemen who did not let the ladies get closer than 70-75 cm.

The second series of experiments confirmed the conclusions of the scientists. Men were invited to bring closer or remove from themselves a photo with beautiful women and images of unpleasant spectacles (torn extremities, etc.). They, as well as in the previous experience, were treated with "hormones of love". Of course, it was much nicer to consider pretty girls than horrible images. However, it was noted that under the action of oxytocin, men reacted to images of women weaker, with a noticeable delay.

Researchers came to the conclusion that oxytocin is able to strengthen monogamy and keep a strong half of humanity from infidelity, forcing to stay away from other women.

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