Unit 2 - Biological Approach To Behaviour
Oxytocin: The Love Hormone's Unexpected Influence on Bias
Table of content
Hey champ! Remember how our brains love shortcuts and groups? Well, we've got a fascinating twist for you today. Let's dive deep into how the "love hormone" plays a part in this.
Key concept oxytocin 🌟
- Known as: “the love hormone”, “the bonding hormone”, “the cuddle chemical”.
- Surprise, Surprise: It might also promote ethnocentrism, where you think your ethnic group is the best.
The experiment (de dreu et al, 2011) 🔬
Setup
- Participants: Dutch dudes (you know, from the Netherlands).
- What they did: Sniffed either oxytocin or a placebo (kind of like a fake treatment).
- The Test: They were shown pictures of:
- Their mates (Dutch guys) 🚶♂️
- Folks from the Middle East and Germany 🌍
The Twist
- Remember the trolley problem? 🚋💥
- Imagine a runaway trolley. If you pull a lever, it switches tracks and kills one person, but saves five others. Do you pull it?
- Participants had to decide who to "sacrifice":
- Their Dutch mate (Dirk, Peter 🇳🇱)
- An Arab guy (Ahmed, Youssef 🌍)
- A German (Markus, Helmut 🇩🇪)
- Five other unnamed folks (who knows where they're from 🤷♂️).
What's the Catch?
Would a Dutch person, under the influence of oxytocin, rather toss a non-Dutch person in front of the trolley?
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Unit 2 - Biological Approach To Behaviour
Oxytocin: The Love Hormone's Unexpected Influence on Bias
Table of content
Hey champ! Remember how our brains love shortcuts and groups? Well, we've got a fascinating twist for you today. Let's dive deep into how the "love hormone" plays a part in this.
Key concept oxytocin 🌟
- Known as: “the love hormone”, “the bonding hormone”, “the cuddle chemical”.
- Surprise, Surprise: It might also promote ethnocentrism, where you think your ethnic group is the best.
The experiment (de dreu et al, 2011) 🔬
Setup
- Participants: Dutch dudes (you know, from the Netherlands).
- What they did: Sniffed either oxytocin or a placebo (kind of like a fake treatment).
- The Test: They were shown pictures of:
- Their mates (Dutch guys) 🚶♂️
- Folks from the Middle East and Germany 🌍
The Twist
- Remember the trolley problem? 🚋💥
- Imagine a runaway trolley. If you pull a lever, it switches tracks and kills one person, but saves five others. Do you pull it?
- Participants had to decide who to "sacrifice":
- Their Dutch mate (Dirk, Peter 🇳🇱)
- An Arab guy (Ahmed, Youssef 🌍)
- A German (Markus, Helmut 🇩🇪)
- Five other unnamed folks (who knows where they're from 🤷♂️).
What's the Catch?
Would a Dutch person, under the influence of oxytocin, rather toss a non-Dutch person in front of the trolley?
Unlock the Full Content!
Dive deeper and gain exclusive access to premium files of Psychology SL. Subscribe now and get closer to that 45 🌟