Oh, oh! The end of the 'In a relationship' client!

[Desirable Encounters]

Ladies, you might like to submit your own research findings!!!!!


A 'FIDELITY' hormone which could keep married men from straying has been identified by scientists.

A nasal spray containing the hormone caused men with wives or long-term partners to keep a greater distance from an attractive woman but had no affect on bachelors, researchers found.

Although those in relationships did not judge the woman to be any less attractive, they began to feel uncomfortable more quickly when approached by the woman and asked her to remain further away.

Oxytocin, dubbed the 'love hormone', was already known for its role in attraction and bonding in both men and women, but had never been shown to play a lasting role in long-term relationships. The findings suggest boosting levels could help maintain marriages by preventing men from appearing interested in other women.

The most obvious way for a wife to raise her husband's oxytocin levels would be to have sexual intercourse with him, but "the simple close presence and touch of their partner at any given moment in time might also suffice", the researchers added.

Dr Rene Hurlemann of Bonn University, who led the study, said: "Previous animal research in prairie voles identified oxytocin as major key for monogamous fidelity in animals. Here, we provide the first evidence that oxytocin may have a similar role for humans."

In the study, published in 'The Journal of Neuroscience', the team sprayed either oxytocin or a placebo into the noses of 57 men before introducing them to a female researcher, whom they later described as being attractive.

As the woman approached each man, they were asked to indicate when she reached an "ideal distance", and when she became so close that they felt "slightly uncomfortable".

The experiment was then repeated with the men approaching the woman, and choosing how far from her they wanted to stop.

Trust

Dr Hurlemann said: "Because oxytocin is known to increase trust in people, we expected men under the influence of the hormone to allow the female experimenter to come even closer, but the direct opposite happened."

On average, the men who were in committed relationships chose to keep 10cm to 15cm further away from the woman if they had been given oxytocin than placebo. There was no difference between oxytocin and placebo in single men, and when the experiments were repeated with a male researcher oxytocin had no effect on any of the participants.