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Oxytocin The cuddle hormone makes men much more critical
According to a new study, the "cuddly hormone" oxytocin can affect people very differently. While women are more responsive to positive messages due to the influence of the hormone, men are more likely to join critical messages with negative content.
Cuddly hormone with multiple effects
Oxytocin, also known as the "cuddle hormone", plays a major role in childbirth, as it triggers contraction of the uterine musculature and initiates labor. In addition, it is important for a strong bond between mother and child as well as the milk injection of the mother. It helps to manage fears and also influences the behavior between partners and, more generally, social interactions by making them more capable of bonding and calming down. But the hormone can do a lot more: scientific research has shown that ocytocin could help with muscle wasting and anorexia. And it relieves pain, as researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg reported a few months ago. A research team from Chengdu (China) with the participation of scientists from the University Hospital Bonn has now found out that oxytocin can have very different effects on men and women.
The "cuddle hormone" oxytocin is ascribed various effects. While women appear to react more positively, it makes men more critical. (Picture: Picture-Factory / fotolia.com) Oxytocin increases sensitivity to social stimuli
The scientists recently published their findings in the journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" (PNAS). According to this, women react more strongly to positive messages through the influence of the hormone, while men are more likely to agree with critical statements with negative content. Oxytocin is generally credited with many effects: "Oxytocin generally increases the sensitivity to social stimuli," explained Prof. Dr. med. René Hurlemann from the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the University Hospital Bonn in a press release. Above all, the messenger substance plays a major role in the first impression left by new acquaintances. For example, when meeting new people at a party, oxytocin can also decide whether to become a new business partner or even a spouse.
The hormone affects women and men alike?
Scientist around Prof. Dr. med. Keith M. Kendrick from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in Chengdu, together with Prof. Hurlemann, investigated whether the hormone works in the same way for both women and men. They showed women and men photos of different people and objects, with pictures showing statements that had either a very positive, praising or very negative, negative content. The 80 study participants were then to provide information as to whether they were sympathetic or unsympathetic to the respective expression of opinion of the persons shown in the photos.
Different effects on the sexes
The subjects were either given oxytocin via a nasal spray or a placebo. In magnetic resonance imaging, the scientists also observed the brain activity, especially the amygdala. As it says in the message, this structure in the temporal lobes takes on the emotional evaluation of information that also plays a role in human interaction. It was found that the activity of the amygdala under oxytocin influence was increased in all participants. "However, oxytocin had very different effects on preference for the two sexes," says Prof. Hurlemann.
In social groups, women feel more comfortable than men
In women, the hormone significantly increased the sympathy for people who were associated with praising statements. In the case of men, however, oxytocin increased the approval of photos that were associated with very critical opinions. "This is a surprising finding, the oxytocin is otherwise very similar in women and men in many situations," said Prof. Hurlemann. According to the researchers' assumptions, these results suggest two different gender-specific models that have been discussed in science for some time. Women tend to feel better in social groups and emphasize the positive aspects more. Men, on the other hand, are much more likely to fear competition from their peers and therefore seem to have a more negative emotional tone. "This tendency seems to strengthen oxytocin," said Prof. Hurlemann. "Women do not feel as threatened as men under the influence of the hormone." (Ad)