And you thought it was because you are a humanitarian and philanthropist. Nope. Oxytocin.
Abstract after the jump
Oxytocin Increases Generosity in Humans
Human beings routinely help strangers at costs to themselves. Sometimes the help offered is generous—offering more than the other expects. The proximate mechanisms supporting generosity are not well-understood, but several lines of research suggest a role for empathy. In this study, participants were infused with 40 IU oxytocin (OT) or placebo and engaged in a blinded, one-shot decision on how to split a sum of money with a stranger that could be rejected. Those on OT were 80% more generous than those given a placebo. OT had no effect on a unilateral monetary transfer task dissociating generosity from altruism. OT and altruism together predicted almost half the interpersonal variation in generosity. Notably, OT had twofold larger impact on generosity compared to altruism. This indicates that generosity is associated with both altruism as well as an emotional identification with another person.
Generosity, a trait we aspire to, or at least used to — books are written about the generosity of leaders, to set examples for us –
Anecdotes, Bons-mots, and Characteristic Traits of the Greatest Princes … By John Adams
So now we know: being generous is more a function of how well our oxytocin works, rather than any character trait imbued only on the deserving.
Mooches seem to gage the level of oxytocin in their targets :
Mooch: A sponge. A schnorrer. A person who shows up every evening at dinner time. A person who wants other people to pay his way.
Here’s how we got rid of a mooch. We fed him dinner. After dinner, we called in the dog and let the dog lick our plates and silverware. Then we put the plates and silverware back in the cupboard. After the mooch left, we had to wash everything, but that schnorrer never came over again.
by Bumkicker Slade Apr 24, 2005 (via Urban Dictionary)
( For a great blog solely on oxytocin, see Hug the Monkey
I’ll add it to the links, or blogroll which is slowly building…)
Oxytocin receptors, particularly those found on the amygdala, effect affiliative behavior — trust, bonding, now generosity. What if those receptors are damaged? In cases where there are amygdala lesions, affiliative behavior is also damaged – perhaps because the oxytocin receptors are therefore unavailable.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: paul.zak@cgu.edu
Conceived and designed the experiments: PZ. Performed the experiments: PZ AS SA. Analyzed the data: PZ AS. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: PZ. Wrote the paper: PZ AS SA.
Received June 16, 2007; Accepted October 13, 2007.
1Center for Neuroeconomics Studies and Department of Economics, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California, United States of America
2Department of Neurology, Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda, California, United States of America
3Argyros School of Business & Economics, Chapman University, Orange, California, United States of America
4Division of Endocrinology, Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
Sarah Brosnan, Academic Editor
Georgia State University, United States of America
PLoS ONE. 2007; 2(11): e1128.
Published online 2007 November 7. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001128.
Copyright Zak et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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