Loyally Does It: Science Reveals Some Men Possess a “Fidelity” Hormone

A scientific study has yielded some very interesting results today ladies. Apparently boffins have discovered that men possess a fidelity hormone that could keep them from cheating on their partners. Fascinating stuff, right?

The Telegraph reports that researchers from Bonn University in Germany have discovered that the cuddle hormone, oxytocin, has an interesting effect on men who are in romantic relationships – namely it causes them to keep their distance from strangers they may find attractive.

Oxytocin is a naturally-occurring ‘feel good’ hormone that is released every time we experience love, sexual attraction, trust and confidence. It’s also the same hormone that helps a mother to bond with her child.

Researchers believe that their findings, which have been published in the noted Journal of Neuroscience, suggest that oxytocin could promote and encourage fidelity.

In the study, researchers administered oxytocin or a placebo drug to 57 healthy men. Half of these men were in happy, monogamous relationships.

The participants in the study were then introduced to an “attractive” female researcher. The men were asked to indicate when the female researcher was at an “ideal distance” from them and when she moved to a place that felt “slightly uncomfortable.”

Surprisingly, the men in monogamous relationships stayed about four to six inches further away from the female researcher than their single counterparts.

Science still can't tell us why some men seem to be addicted to cheating on their partners

“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,” said Dr Rene Hurlemann, one of the main researchers.

“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,” he added.

We’ll admit that it’s super-interesting and we’re pleased that all the happy, loved-up men out there have some loyalty built into them, but we’d be much more impressed if the researchers had managed to figure out why some men can’t help themselves when it comes to being unfaithful. What do you think ladies?