In conclusion, oxytocin has been called the “love hormone,”
and our results partially support this view.
Increasing oxytocin appears to induce the kind of communal,
other-orientation essential for establishing and
maintaining close bonds. This is not to say, however, that
oxytocin is a “love drug” that invariably produces positive
interpersonal outcomes; our data suggest that oxytocin’s
effects depend on people’s beliefs about themselves in
relation to others and about what is required to achieve
closeness.