Aug 2, 2011 13:44 GMT  ·  By

Past studies have demonstrated that the hormone oxytocin plays an important role in promoting social functions and interpersonal bonding, but a new investigation is suggesting that the chemical may also have a negative influence on the human body as well.

In order to understand how the international scientific community views this compound, it's important to know that it is informally known as the “love hormone” or “trust hormone.” When elevated concentrations are present in the blood, people are more likely to trust one another.

In addition, it was also demonstrated to enhance autism patients' ability to engage in social behaviors, where they could not do so naturally. The chemical is also capable of boosting other behaviors that are important for social life, such as altruism and generosity.

But science has largely focused on the positive aspects of oxytocin until now. University of Sydney scientists led by expert Andrew Kemp, PhD, discovered recently that the substance can also make people more envious and gloating.

In the experiments, he and study coauthor Adam Guastella, PhD, pitted test participants against a computer opponent in a game of chance. Subjects appeared to be more envious and gloating when they lost or won, respectively, than normal under the circumstances.

Researchers say that oxytocin is probably not acting on these emotions directly, but rather on a neural system controlling what the team refers to as approach-related emotions. Details of the idea appear in the latest issue if the medical journal Current Directions in Psychological Science.

In the past, some experts proposed that oxytocin promotes both positive and negative social behaviors. That idea “kind of rocked the research world a little bit,” Kemp says, but the new study shows that it may not be entirely accurate. The role oxytocin plays is a lot more complex, the team adds.

According to University of Sydney experts, approach-related emotions are emotions that are related with wanting something, as opposed to shrinking away, PsychCentral reports.

“If you look at the Oxford English Dictionary for envy, it says that the definition of envy is to wish oneself on a level with another, in happiness or with the possession of something desirable. It’s an approach-related emotion: I want what you have,” Kemp explains.

If the team is correct, then oxytocin is most likely involved in increasing other negative approach-related emotions as well, such as for example anger. Given that the chemical is now a preferred facilitator of psychiatric care, the findings could change everything for doctors.

“If you were to take a convicted criminal with a tendency towards aggression and give him oxytocin to make him more social, and if that were to enhance anger as opposed to suppressing anger, then that has very substantial implications,” the team leader concludes.