Oxytocin, dubbed as the ‘love hormone’, for its role in promoting social bonding may enhance spirituality in men, a new study has found.
The research, from Duke University in the US, found that participants reported a greater sense of spirituality shortly after taking oxytocin and a week later.
They also experienced more positive emotions during meditation, said lead author Patty Van Cappellen, a social psychologist at Duke. “Spirituality and meditation have each been linked to health and well-being in previous research. We were interested in understanding biological factors that may enhance those spiritual experiences,” Van Cappellen said.
“Spirituality is complex and affected by many factors. However, oxytocin does seem to affect how we perceive the world and what we believe,” she added.