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. 2017 Jul 6;12(7):e0180391.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180391. eCollection 2017.

Association between salivary serotonin and the social sharing of happiness

Masahiro Matsunaga  1 , Keiko Ishii  2 , Yohsuke Ohtsubo  2 , Yasuki Noguchi  2 , Misaki Ochi  2 , Hidenori Yamasue  3
Affiliations

Association between salivary serotonin and the social sharing of happiness

Masahiro Matsunaga et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Although human saliva contains the monoamine serotonin, which plays a key role in the modulation of emotional states, the association between salivary serotonin and empathic ability remains unclear. In order to elucidate the associations between salivary serotonin levels, trait empathy, and the sharing effect of emotions (i.e., sharing emotional experiences with others), we performed a vignette-based study. Participants were asked to evaluate their happiness when they experience several hypothetical life events, whereby we manipulated the valence of the imagined event (positive, neutral, or negative), as well as the presence of a friend (absent, positive, or negative). Results indicated that the presence of a happy friend significantly enhanced participants' happiness. Correlation analysis demonstrated that salivary serotonin levels were negatively correlated with happiness when both the self and friend conditions were positive. Correlation analysis also indicated a negative relationship between salivary serotonin levels and trait empathy (particularly in perspective taking), which was measured by the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. Furthermore, an exploratory multiple regression analysis suggested that mothers' attention during childhood predicted salivary serotonin levels. Our findings indicate that empathic abilities and the social sharing of happiness decreases as a function of salivary serotonin levels.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Results of the questionnaire.
The bar graph shows happiness rating scores as a function of the participants’ emotional valence (positive, neutral, or negative) and the situation of a friend (absent, positive, or negative). Each column and the error bars represent means ± standard errors (n = 212).
Fig 2
Fig 2. Associations between salivary serotonin levels and psychological measures.
(A) The scatterplot demonstrates the negative correlation between salivary serotonin levels and perspective taking (n = 182). (B) The scatterplot demonstrates the negative correlation between salivary serotonin levels and happiness rating scores in the self-positive/friend-positive condition (n = 183).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Grants and funding

This work was supported by a JSPS Topic-Setting Program to Advance Cutting-Edge Humanities and Social Sciences Research (Responding-to-Real-Society) (to KI). This work was also supported by Kobe University (Young Scholar Award) (to YO). The funders had no role in study design, data collection or analysis, the decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. No additional external funding was received for this study.