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Trust Potion Not Just Fiction Anymore
June 1, 2005 -- It sounds like something straight out of a fairy tale -- a potion that makes people trust others more than they normally would.
But the news comes from scientists, not the Brothers Grimm. Their report can be found in the scientific journal Nature, not on a shelf with children's books such as Jack and the Beanstalk or Cinderella (or, for that matter, political conspiracy thrillers like The Manchurian Candidate.)
The experiment had nothing to do with elves, wizards, or bubbling cauldrons of mysterious brews. Instead, it centered on a chemical called oxytocin. Oxytocin appears to enhance trust, write the researchers, who included Michael Kosfeld, PhD, of Switzerland's University of Zurich.
What's Oxytocin?
Oxytocin is a hormone found in many mammals, including humans.
In nonhuman mammals, oxytocin is important in social attachments and affiliations -- who the animals hang out with. In people, oxytocin plays a role in milk secretion and in inducing labor. The hormone also functions in areas of the brain that affect emotional and social behavior. It plays a role in bonding after mating, bonding after childbirth, sexual behavior, and the ability to form normal social attachments, says the study.
A Recipe for Trust
Kosfeld and colleagues tested two nasal sprays -- one with oxytocin and one without it. Otherwise, the sprays were identical.
The study included 194 healthy male students who were about 22 years old. They were told not to eat or drink two hours before the experiment and to skip cigarettes, alcohol, and caffeine for 24 hours prior to the test.
The men got a single dose of one of the nasal sprays without knowing what the sprays contained. Fifty minutes later, the test began.
Trust Test
First, a group of men were randomly and anonymously paired up into one-on-one sets of "investors" and "trustees." The investors had a certain amount of money, and they could give any portion of it to their trustee to make the money grow.
But the trustees weren't always trustworthy. They could break the rules and pocket some of the investor's cash. The investors had no way to know in advance what kind of trustee they were dealing with.
Oxytocin appeared to increase trust. Investors who inhaled oxytocin were more trusting than those who got the placebo.
The trustee's behavior wasn't affected by either nasal spray. The trustee's job didn't require trust; they didn't have any of their own money on the line.
Next, the other participants took the same test, but their "partner" was a computer, not a person. Oxytocin didn't make any difference under those circumstances. That suggests that oxytocin affects interpersonal trust, not willingness to take a risk, say the researchers.
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