A Whiff of Monogamy? Oxytocin Makes Committed Men Moreso

[3113]

Or so says a new study. From here:

A study published Tuesday in the Journal of Neuroscience has uncovered a surprising new property of oxytocin, finding that when men in monogamous relationships got a sniff of the stuff, they subsequently put a little extra space between themselves and an attractive woman they'd just met.

Oxytocin didn't have the same effect on single heterosexual men, who comfortably parked themselves between 21 and 24 inches from the comely female stranger. The men who declared themselves in "stable, monogamous" relationships and got a dose of the hormone chose to stand, on average, about 6 1/2 inches farther away.

When researchers conducted the experiment with a placebo, they found no differences in the distance that attached and unattached men maintained from a woman they had just met.

Even when an attractive woman was portrayed only in a photograph, the monogamous men who received oxytocin put a bit more distance between themselves and her likeness. But when the new acquaintance was a man, administration of oxytocin did not prompt attached men to stand farther away than single men, the researchers reported.

The plot bunnies are really bountiful this month, aren't they? I see an LW story of a wife who keeps her philandering husband at her side, faithful while she philanders thanks to a super-Oxytocin perfume

 

[soflabbwlvr]

This is the type of research that should be suppressed--Oxytocin, the cock block drug.

 

[TxRad]

6 1/2 inches isn't all that much difference but then again, maybe it makes all the difference in the world.

 

[3113]

6 1/2 inches isn't all that much difference but then again, maybe it makes all the difference in the world.

Sound like 1/2 an inch too far for most men to hit the target I'd say that was good enough clearance to prove faithfulness to the wife/girlfriend

 

[lovecraft68]

Cheating is not a chemical thing in the brain. There is no such thing as the "dog" gene. Its learned behavior that usually stems from having a "player" as a father that passed his lifestyle onto his son or just hanging around the idiot frat boy crowd that thinks its not cool to just be with one woman.

and again when we talk monogamy we're not talking open marriages so "soft" up there can relax. In order to really be cheating one poor sap in the marriage has to be faithful and think that their mate is as well.

I'm not the prettiest gift under the tree, but have never had issues with women, I've had more than my share of chances. Its not a chemical that keeps me away its something cheating men don;t have. Love and respect for my wife and enough self respect that I don't need to prove my manhood by having sex outside my marriage.

 

[jomar]

You know the researchers had a ball talking about how to present the 6 1/2 inches data.

Cheating is not a chemical thing in the brain. There is no such thing as the "dog" gene. Its learned behavior that usually stems from having a "player" as a father that passed his lifestyle onto his son or just hanging around the idiot frat boy crowd that thinks its not cool to just be with one woman.

and again when we talk monogamy we're not talking open marriages so "soft" up there can relax. In order to really be cheating one poor sap in the marriage has to be faithful and think that their mate is as well.

I'm not the prettiest gift under the tree, but have never had issues with women, I've had more than my share of chances. Its not a chemical that keeps me away its something cheating men don;t have. Love and respect for my wife and enough self respect that I don't need to prove my manhood by having sex outside my marriage.

One size does not fit all.

Simply speaking, research leans toward women cheating being largely an emotional needs not being met thing, while for men it's often proximity/opportunity even when the man thinks his marriage is fine.

 

[JackLuis]

Maybe we should put Ocytocin dispensers in the Capitol and the Congressional Office buildings, and the Pentagon?

Oh, I forgot Langley!