'Liquid Trust' Doesn't Make Us Gullible

Oxytocin (OT), nicknamed “the love hormone” and “liquid trust,” plays an important role in social behavior. And, as with most nicknames, there is an element of truth in their descriptions: when OT levels are increased, people do in fact seem to become more altruistic, trusting, and generous. Some researchers think that the trusting effect of OT is so strong that it makes people trusting to a fault and even could be potentially misused by politicians, marketers, and others seeking influence. Is this possible?

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I figured people would be interested in this since there had been some concern about OT being used to make people docile and compliant, and seeing as how this is ATS and that's exactly what many worry about the government doing I figured this would alleviate some of the worry. So, while we may need to worry about other chemicals being introduced that will make us willing slaves, OT is not one of them. It simply makes a person more trusting towards those they already trust.

reply to post by Xcalibur254

I think you're a bit ahead of the paranoia curve here. Still, no harm in that.

The experiment seems a bit limited in scope, for the inferences being made from it. Before you could state with confidence that oxytocin doesn't make people gullible, I think ou'd have to conduct extensive and very, very well-designed field trials.

I'm seeing an increasing amount of science journalism in which big conclusions are drawn from small experiments and reported to the public as fact. Although this is mainly due to commercial exigencies of the news industry, scientists do seem to be playing along. This is especially true, it seems, in psychology and neuroscience.

Let's see if the study results are ever replicated before we jump to conclusions.