Researchers have found that a nose spray containing the hormone oxytocin increases men’s feelings of empathy and even helps them learn. Cue the gender stereotypes!
According to the BBC’s Emma Wilkinson, scientists at Cambridge had men huff the so-called “cuddle hormone,” then showed them “photos of emotionally charged situations including a crying child, a girl hugging her cat, and a grieving man” (what, no lost puppy?). The men who got the oxytocin reported deeper feelings toward the photo subject than the control group which received a dummy. Feelings just as deep as those of nature’s champion emotion-havers — women. Writes Wilkinson, “Those who had the hormone spray had markedly higher levels of empathy – of a similar magnitude to those only usually seen in women who are naturally more sensitive to the feelings of others.” The Times of India chimes in too: “Under normal circumstances, the ‘weak’ sex enjoys a clear advantage when it comes to the subject of ’empathy.'” Coverage of the study mentions women’s empathy so consistently that the study authors themselves may have referenced it, but it would’ve been nice to see exactly how women performed on a similar photo test — rather than just some platitudes about the “weak” sex.
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