The neurobiology of trust

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2004 Dec:1032:224-7. doi: 10.1196/annals.1314.025.

Abstract

This is the first report that endogenous oxytocin in humans is related to social behaviors, which is consistent with a large animal literature. Subjects are put into a social dilemma in which absent communication, cooperative behavior can benefit both parties randomly assigned to a dyad. The dilemma arises because one participant must make a monetary sacrifice to signal the degree of trust in the other before the other's behavioral response is known. We show that receipt of a signal of trust is associated with a higher level of peripheral oxytocin than that in subjects receiving a random monetary transfer of the same average amount. Oxytocin levels were also related to trustworthy behavior (sharing a greater proportion of the monetary gains). We conclude that oxytocin may be part of the human physiology that motivates cooperation.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

  • Decision Making / physiology
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations*
  • Oxytocin / metabolism
  • Oxytocin / physiology*

Substances

  • Oxytocin