• Participants: 128 healthy male students.
• Groups: Participants were randomly divided into two groups - oxytocin or placebo.
• How?: Oxytocin or placebo was given through an intra-nasal spray (so, up the nose! 😅).

• Starting Point: Both the 'investor' and 'trustee' are given 12 monetary units (think of these as $12 for simplicity).
• Step 1 (Investor's Move): Investor decides how much of their 12 units to send to the trustee (can choose 0, 4, 8, 12). The sent amount gets tripled by the experimenter before the trustee receives it.
  • E.g., If investor sends 4 units, trustee gets 12 units (because 4 x 3 = 12, yay math!).
• Step 2 (Trustee's Move): Trustee decides how much of the received amount to send back to the investor.
  • Trust Test! If an investor totally trusts the trustee, they'd send all 12 units hoping to get back a decent share!

• Trust Levels: The oxytocin group showed higher trust levels than the placebo group.
  • Median transfer in oxytocin group: 10 units.
  • Median transfer in placebo group: 8 units.
  • 45% in the oxytocin group trusted fully (sent all 12 units), compared to only 21% in the placebo group.

Real-World Example: Imagine trusting a friend with your favorite snack. If you're under the effects of oxytocin, you might be more willing to share that snack, expecting that they'll give you some in return. 🍪