One of our favorite classic movies chez Freberg is Bell, Book, and Candle, a 1958 film starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak, who allegedly was the actress after whom the Disney animators fashioned Tinkerbell. In the movie, Novak plays a witch who uses her magic to make Stewart fall in love with her. Is it possible to make somebody feel attracted to another person with a “potion?”
Watch Out For People Armed With Nasal Spray
The closest we can probably come to Novak’s potion is the multipurpose hormone, oxytocin. Angeliki Theodoridou of the University of Bristol and her colleagues performed a placebo-controlled, double-blind experiment in which participants receiving a nose spray containing oxytocin subsequently rated the faces of strangers as more attractive and more trustworthy.
Oxytocin has been considered essential to bonding for a long time. Individuals with autism have reduced oxytocin levels, possibly leading to their preferred aloneness (Marazziti & Dell’osso, 2008). Women’s oxytocin level increases in response to a simple hug from their partners (Light, Grewen, & Amico, 2005).
Oddly enough, the oxytocin in Theodoridou et al. affected both men and women in similar ways. I say oddly enough, because considerable data suggest that women respond differently to oxytocin than men. Female brains express greater amounts of oxytocin, while male brains express more vasopressin (ADH; Ishunina & Swaab, 1999; van Londen et al., 1997). Diamond (2004) has argued that due to sex differences in oxytocin, women are more likely than men to equate sexual desire with feelings of romantic love. Further research will be needed to see why similar sex differences did not occur in this study.
In the meantime, I suppose one should be a bit skeptical of people at parties armed with nasal spray…
8 Comments
fillups9 · April 14, 2009 at 12:41 am
I think this is interesting that attractiveness goes along with trustworthiness. If I am trustworthy looking does that also mean that I am attractive!?! Very interesting bit of info!
helenasetiawan · April 14, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Wow, it is interesting to see how researchers find out the oxytocin level of those who have autism have a lower level than a person without autism. Same goes with the level of a woman being hugged by a loved one has a higher oxytocin level than a woman who is just sitting and reading the newspaper. I feel that this oxytocin is somewhat like the sex steroids, estrogen or androgen, and where it kind of imitates or encourage the man/woman to be more attracted to the another person.
I think that’s cool though! But I wonder if it can work on an everyday life style.
P.S. I didn’t know Tinkerbell was modeled after Kim Novak! Nice!
ACroson · April 14, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Wow!
I do wonder, though, if this affects your perspective of every person you see by the same degree; if you think everybody is better looking and more trustworthy by one point (obviously there is no point system, but for sake of clarification), you would still pick the person that is the ‘best’ just as you would have before because they would still be the ‘best’. Maybe this is the “Love-everyone” potion, or the “Love me (if you have no one else to compare me to at the moment)” potion.
steelersfan086 · April 14, 2009 at 6:35 pm
This is so interesting! I actually saw a TV special on the love differences between men and women and among women specifically. There was one study done where the smell of a man (natural body odor) is attractive to women but women can tell just by smelling a sweaty T-shirt if the male is related to them. The T-shirt will smell undesirable to them if the male is related to them. Also, with the oxytocin, I think it is so interesting that women have a higher romantic capacity than men. The TV show also mentioned that happy couples who have been married for decades are just as in love, if not more so, as they were when they first started dating and it was shown on a brain image. There are areas of the brain that hold that certain capacity or hormone (I can’t remember specifically). I just am extremely interested in the topic of love between men and women and it is extremely relatable and relevant in our lives.
jacquelynlaing · April 19, 2009 at 7:49 pm
I think it is very puzzling that men and women have similar effects to the increased oxytocin levels. It could spark more research into the effects of oxytocin on the male brain! Maybe we have been understanding it effects incorrectly!
shaunashea · April 28, 2009 at 2:16 pm
I was very intrigued that those with autism have lower levels of oxytocin. Since I know one of the symptoms of a child with autism is a lower level of eye contact or personal contract, this is very interesting.
Additionally, I found it interesting that men and women experience similar effects to oxytocin. This finding suprised me because in lust, love, attraction, etc., the two genders respond differently. This finding could help to determine different contributions to the ways in which both genders act.
jeffcurry · April 28, 2009 at 9:08 pm
I had never heard of the effects of oxytocin on “bonding” until this blog. After reading about it, I am not surprised to hear about the effectiveness of the nasal spray. What intrigues me about this is consideration of perfume/cologne. Does the pleasing smell of perfume/cologne raise oxytocin levels in both males and females? In cases of those with autism, could the use of of oxytocin “enhancers” aid them in becoming less solitary? These findings certainly bring about some interesting questions…
grubino · June 1, 2009 at 6:56 pm
I have heard about this study before and it is very interesting. We actually went over this study similar to this one in one of my other classes. That study had also found that women who were effected the most by the oxtocin were young college students. Which probably relates to the time these women are ready to meet the man of their dreams and have children.
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