Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Feedback

27 June 2007

Trust me, I’m oxytocin

TWO years ago Âé¶¹´«Ã½ reported Swiss research showing that a sniff of the hormone oxytocin caused people to be more trusting (4 June 2005, p 7). It made male Swiss students give money to strangers in the belief they would give it back, even though the strangers had every reason not to.

Unsurprisingly, this provoked shock-horror media speculation that politicians and others might spray people with oxytocin to engender trust for nefarious purposes. So what are we to make of the New York-based firm Vero Labs which is marketing oxytocin as a spray called…

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with Âé¶¹´«Ã½ events and special offers.

Sign up

To continue reading, today with our introductory offers

or

Existing subscribers

Sign in to your account
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop