Oxytocin is only released during three events
during a female’s lifetime; while breastfeeding, during
birth, and while having sex. It is produced in the hypothalamus and released to
the blood via the posterior pituitary. Studies have shown that countries who
have a greater amount of communal trust are richer and more prosperous. This
idea was tested in a study called the “Investment
Game” where one person was given $10 and
could either keep or send how ever much of it. The second group who received this
amount of money had their share tripled and were then faced with the same
choice, to keep or send some, or all of the money back. Oxytocin levels of each
of the participants were measured during different points of the study as well.
The first part of the scenario is a test of trust; will the first person decide
to trust that the second will return part of their share? The second part is a
test of trustworthiness; will the second person reward the first for their
kindness? The study showed that there are different levels of trust and trustworthiness
that people employ, and this level varies from person to person; 90% of the first
group send money, while 95% of the second group returned part of their money. The
more the second person received, the greater their oxytocin levels were, and more
they returned.
A second study was done to compliment
this and prove that oxytocin causes trustworthiness, where the same scenario was
proposed, but 200 men received a nasal inhaler which contained oxytocin, while
200 did not. Those who inhaled the oxytocin prior to receiving an amount of
money showed more trust, and the number of people who sent all of their money
was doubled, as compared to the last study. This indicated that oxytocin was
the molecule directly related to trust.
Continued testing on oxytocin
revealed that it is also related to empathy. Participants of a study were asked
to watch a sad video between a father and his son, and then rate their
feelings; blood was also taken before and after the video. Changes in the blood
oxytocin levels directly correlated to their feelings of empathy. The relationship
between this scenario and real life is that empathy is what connects us to
other people, which in turn influences our decisions and makes us moral.
Following this logic, we can then
predict instances when immorality could occur. We know that when stress levels
are high oxytocin is inhibited as well as when testosterone is produced. In
these cases, we can assume that when these conditions are met, individuals will
behave immorally.
This post is based on a Ted Talk, which is highly interesting,
the link for which can be found below.
https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_zak_trust_morality_and_oxytocin#t-964750
Thinking of oxytocin as molecule which highly influences moral decision making and empathy is an interesting concept. In the study you discuss, the participants were given oxytocin through a nasal inhaler. However, I found an article which suggests measuring the concentration of oxytocin within the body after making a moral decision rather than synthetically raising the levels of oxytocin being released while performing moral acts. This article also addresses the difficulties surrounding measuring the concentration of oxytocin released accurately after a moral act is performed (Churchland & Winkielman, 2012).
ReplyDeleteThe article by Churchland and Winkielman discusses the difficulties involved in measuring the levels of oxytocin released accurately. The levels of oxytocin releases could be influenced by the heart and gut’s contributions of oxytocin to the plasma. Oxytocin also has quite a short half-life of three to nine minutes in the blood. This could also pose a hurdle of the precision of when the measurements must be taken. In order for these tests to be performed, the test subject would have to be continually followed around as to ensure the moral act was completed and the oxytocin level in the blood was tested within the hormone’s half-life (Churchland & Winkielman, 2012).
Overall, the idea of oxytocin as a moral molecule is quite interesting. I wonder what its future applications could entail. Could oxytocin be used as a treatment option for those who do not express an empathetic or moral response when shown bothersome images or experience bothersome events?
Churchland, P. S., & Winkielman, P. (2012). Modulating social behavior with oxytocin: How does it work? What does it mean? Hormones and Behavior, 61(3), 392-399. doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.12.003