Can A Hormone Prevent Men From Cheating?
By Dr. Christie Hartman. Posted on .
![Can A Hormone Prevent Men From Cheating? [EXPERT]](http://images.tangomag.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-full/image_blog/doting.jpg "Can A Hormone Prevent Men From Cheating? [EXPERT]")
Raise your hand if you've heard of oxytocin. If you have, that's not surprising. To the extent that trends exist for substances that naturally occur in the human body, oxytocin is quite trendy these days. In our attempt to understand the science of love and attraction, and recently more specifically about cheating, oxytocin has taken center stage, possibly outdoing dopamine in its ability to explain human relationships.
What is Oxytocin?
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Oxytocin is a human hormone (a neuropeptide, to be precise) that plays a significant role in reproduction. Studies show that it is present in large amounts during and after childbirth, it increases in both men and women during and after sexual activity and appears to correlate with bonding between humans, increased levels of trust and empathy and decreased fear and stress levels.
It has been coined the "love hormone." But research suggests that oxytocin is more likely the "social hormone" that facilitates bonding and closeness with mates, children, friends,and other people who are important to us.
Some time ago, a bunch of articles appeared from various dating experts warning women to avoid casual sex. Why? Oxytocin. The idea was that if a woman engaged in sex with a man, she would release the love hormone and want to bond with him. She would want love, when he only wanted sex.
The extent to which such hypotheses annoy me cannot be overstated. Not only are they scientifically unfounded, they oversimplify a rather complex issue, which brings me to my main point.
Oxytocin and Cheating
I don't generally write much about cheating or infidelity for a few reasons. One, it's a massive topic, worthy of its own blog and book. Two, cheating is really a relationship issue and I prefer to focus on dating. BUT, when an interesting scientific study crosses my path, I pay attention.
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A new study in the Journal of Neuroscience (entitled "Oxytocin Modulates Social Distance between Males and Females") took an interesting look at the relationship between oxytocin and infidelity. Given that oxytocin is the hormone for love and social bonding, is it possible that it plays a role in the prevention of cheating and infidelity? In other words, does oxytocin and closeness to one's partner make cheating less likely? Not an unreasonable hypothesis.
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