The DOI matches its Crossref record; 32 of the 32 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Oxytocin increases trust in humans
Open accessAbstract
Trust pervades human societies. Trust is indispensable in friendship, love, families and organizations, and plays a key role in economic exchange and politics. In the absence of trust among trading partners, market transactions break down. In the absence of trust in a country's institutions and leaders, political legitimacy breaks down. Much recent evidence indicates that trust contributes to economic, political and social success. Little is known, however, about the biological basis of trust among humans. Here we show that intranasal administration of oxytocin, a neuropeptide that plays a key role in social attachment and affiliation in non-human mammals, causes a substantial increase in trust among humans, thereby greatly increasing the benefits from social interactions. We also show that the effect of oxytocin on trust is not due to a general increase in the readiness to bear risks. On the contrary, oxytocin specifically affects an individual's willingness to accept social risks arising through interpersonal interactions. These results concur with animal research suggesting an essential role for oxytocin as a biological basis of prosocial approach behaviour.
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In the citing paper
“Oxytocin is also involved in nursing behavior, trust, and “mind-reading” (Domes et al. 2007; Kosfeld et al. 2005)”
From Natural Selection, Childrearing, and the Ethics of Marriage (and Divorce): Building a Case for the Neuroenhancement of Human Relationships (2012) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al. 2005
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Neuroimaging studies in humans have largely substantiated this view.”
From Could intranasal oxytocin be used to enhance relationships? Research imperatives, clinical policy, and ethical considerations (2013) · cites this paper as [43]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“In persons without known developmental or psychiatric disorders, the use of intranasal oxytocin increases social affiliation, social memory, and empathy.2–5”
From Intranasal Oxytocin in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (2021) · cites this paper as [2]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“In humans, intranasal administration of OT was found to increase bonding-related behavior, including gaze to eye region (Guastella et al., 2008), interpersonal trust and empathy (Hurlemann et al., 2010; Kosfeld et al., 2005), and social cognition (Kirsch et al., 2005).”
From Oxytocin during the initial stages of romantic attachment: Relations to couples’ interactive reciprocity (2012) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al., 2005
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“A few recent studies show that it is possible to alter preferences and personality through experiments that change the brain's chemistry.”
From Personality Psychology and Economics (2011) · cites this paper as Kosfeld, Heinrichs, Zak et al. [2005]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Oxytocin is crucially involved in human affiliation and trust[ 23 , 24 , 25 ]”
From Loneliness and the Social Brain: How Perceived Social Isolation Impairs Human Interactions (2021) · cites this paper as [23]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Much of the interest in intranasal oxytocin followed a report that it enhanced trust (96)”
From Intranasal Oxytocin: Myths and Delusions (2016) · cites this paper as [96]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Because all studies on trust so far (e.g.(1,4)) resorted to monetary paradigm”
From Is there a Publication Bias in Behavioural Intranasal Oxytocin Research on Humans? Opening the File Drawer of One Laboratory (2016) · cites this paper as [1]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Oxytocin, however, does not make subjects more generous, suggesting that trust is not simply altruism.”
From Personality Psychology and Economics (2011) · cites this paper as Kosfeld, Heinrichs, Zak et al. [2005]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Similarly, nasal sprays of oxytocin increase trust (distinct from altruism or ability to assess probabilities) in a game-theoretic experiment (Kosfeld, Heinrichs, Zak et al. [2005]).”
From Personality Psychology and Economics (2011) · cites this paper as Kosfeld, Heinrichs, Zak et al. [2005]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“MDMA’s ability to enhance social bonding is thought to be driven by its stimulation of oxytocin release (84), which increases prosocial feelings (85), greater trust in interpersonal interactions (86), and openness to social reward and connectedness (87).”
From Psychoanalytically informed MDMA-assisted therapy for pathological narcissism: a novel theoretical approach (2025) · cites this paper as [86]
The check wasn’t confident either way, so it gives no verdict — never disputed.
In the citing paper
“This effect is amplified for mothers who exhibit a secure attachment style compared to those who are insecurely attached, and correlates with oxytocin levels in the blood [43].”
From Could intranasal oxytocin be used to enhance relationships? Research imperatives, clinical policy, and ethical considerations (2013) · cites this paper as [43]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe check wasn’t confident either way, so it gives no verdict — never disputed.
In the citing paper
“This is not due to deficits in general learning and memory or olfaction since they do habituate to non-social odors [78].”
From Oxytocin and the Neural Mechanisms Regulating Social Cognition and Affiliative Behavior (2009) · cites this paper as [78]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe check wasn’t confident either way, so it gives no verdict — never disputed.
In the citing paper
“However, OTKO males fail to habituate after repeated exposures to the same mouse [78].”
From Oxytocin and the Neural Mechanisms Regulating Social Cognition and Affiliative Behavior (2009) · cites this paper as [78]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn the citing paper
“The first studies to report intranasal OT effects in humans were done in males only, showing a role for OT in trust and in the processing of socially relevant information”
From Vasopressin and oxytocin receptor systems in the brain: Sex differences and sex-specific regulation of social behavior (2016) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al., 2005
In the citing paper
“Administration of oxytocin in humans is associated with changes in social-approach behaviors, such as trust (2) and personal proximity (3).”
From Epigenetic modification of OXT and human sociability (2016) · cites this paper as [2]
In the citing paper
“exogenous OT increases trusting behavior in an economic game (Kosfeld et al., 2005)”
From The effect of oxytocin on cooperation in a prisoner's dilemma depends on the social context and a person's social value orientation (2014) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al., 2005
In the citing paper
“Oxytocin inhaling was found to increase trust (18)”
From Oxytocin and the development of parenting in humans (2010) · cites this paper as [18]
In the citing paper
“Generally, in healthy subjects pro-social feelings, including generosity and trust (6–8), social communication and emotional recognition (9,10), self-perception (11), and social interactions with offspring are altered by OT(12).”
From Chronic intranasal oxytocin causes long-term impairments in partner preference formation in male prairie voles (2013) · cites this paper as [6]
In the citing paper
“as well as with standardized testing, self-report or expert ratings (Kosfeld et al., 2005).”
From Effects of intranasal oxytocin on social anxiety in males with fragile X syndrome (2012) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al., 2005
In the citing paper
“Previous studies have employed simulated social games (Andari et al., 2010; Kosfeld et al., 2005), and static social photographs (Guastella et al., 2008) to evaluate the effects of OT on social behaviors.”
From Effects of intranasal oxytocin on social anxiety in males with fragile X syndrome (2012) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al., 2005
In the citing paper
“Intriguingly, intranasal application of OT has been shown to increase trusting behavior in humans [20], [21], identification of others' affective states [22] and amygdala responses to emotional faces [23].”
From The oxytocin receptor (OXTR) contributes to prosocial fund allocations in the dictator game and the social value orientations task (2009) · cites this paper as [21]
In the citing paper
“only scales related to social behavior were altered by the administration of intranasal oxytocin relative to a placebo, with the exception of openness to experiences.”
From Acute intranasal oxytocin improves positive self-perceptions of personality (2012) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al., 2005
In the citing paper
“While most studies examine the effects of oxytocin 45 minutes after administration (Ditzen et al., 2009; Kosfeld et al., 2005)”
From Acute intranasal oxytocin improves positive self-perceptions of personality (2012) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al., 2005
In the citing paper
“More recently, studies in humans have demonstrated that OXT administration increases pro-social behaviors like trust, empathy, and willingness to take social risks (Kosfeld et al, 2005), whereas dampening psychophysiological responses to stressors (Ditzen et al, 2009).”
From Oxytocin modulation of amygdala functional connectivity to fearful faces in generalized social anxiety disorder (2015) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al, 2005
In the citing paper
“we have demonstrated that emotion discrimination abilities in mice are dependent on the OXT system”
From Oxytocin Signaling in the Central Amygdala Modulates Emotion Discrimination in Mice (2019) · cites this paper as [35]
In the citing paper
“OXT has been associated with social cognitive functions, such as emotion recognition [8-10, 33-36, 38, 39].”
From Oxytocin Signaling in the Central Amygdala Modulates Emotion Discrimination in Mice (2019) · cites this paper as [35]
In the citing paper
“trust (22)”
From Oxytocin administration to parent enhances infant physiological and behavioral readiness for social engagement (2012) · cites this paper as [22]
In the citing paper
“Intranasal administration of oxytocin attenuates anticipatory anxiety, subjective stress, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation to a psychosocial laboratory stress task and increases trust (de Oliveira et al., 2011; Heinrichs et al., 2003; Kosfeld et al., 2005).”
From Effect of oxytocin on craving and stress response in marijuana-dependent individuals: A pilot study (2013) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al., 2005
In the citing paper
“Researchers have found that OT increases cooperation and trust in others, but also envy and gloating during the experience of loss and defensive responses and punishment for the out-group during threatening conditions (De Dreu et al. 2010; Kosfeld et al. 2005; Shamay-Tsoory et al. 2009).”
From A precision medicine approach to oxytocin trials (2017) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al. 2005
In the citing paper
“Researchers found that IN-OT increases cooperation and social trust in others (Kosfeld et al. 2005), increases envy and schadenfreude in situations of loss (Shamay-Tsoory et al. 2009), enhances mind-reading capacities (Domes et al. 2007b), increases memory for faces (Rimmele et al. 2009), and improves emotion recognition (Schulze et al. 2011).”
From A precision medicine approach to oxytocin trials (2017) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al. 2005
In the citing paper
“Both published case studies 67 and anecdotal evidence 68 suggest off-label prescriptions of oxytocin are already a common practice by treating clinicians, despite concerns about pediatric use outside of a clinical trial setting.69”
From Beyond the hype and hope: critical considerations for intranasal oxytocin research in autism spectrum disorder (2017) · cites this paper as [67]
In the citing paper
“This question has sparked more than a decade of research ever since the first report that administering a single dose of intranasal OT (compared to placebo) increases the willingness to trust in a dyadic economic game with real monetary stakes 8 .”
From A registered replication study on oxytocin and trust (2020) · cites this paper as [8]
In the citing paper
“In an influential paper, Kosfeld et al. (2005) showed that intranasal administration of Oxytocin (OT) increases the transfers made by investors in the trust game -suggesting that OT increases trust in strangers.”
From A registered replication study on oxytocin and trust (2020) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al. (2005)
In the citing paper
“The Kosfeld et al. study 8 already suggested this: OT increased trusting decisions in the trust game, but did not augment risk-taking in an identically framed risk game played against a computer.”
From A registered replication study on oxytocin and trust (2020) · cites this paper as [8]
In the citing paper
“reports that oxytocin increases trust14”
In the citing paper
“Several human studies showed that intranasal oxytocin can facilitate trust and prosocial behavior [40,41].”
From Efficacy of oxytocin administration early after psychotrauma in preventing the development of PTSD: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial (2014) · cites this paper as [40]
In the citing paper
“intranasal oxytocin administration has been shown to reliably modulate neuropsychological functions in a series of studies (2–5) in the absence of relevant side effects (16).”
From Oxytocin Reduces Reward-Driven Food Intake in Humans (2013) · cites this paper as [5]
In the citing paper
“Research in humans has almost exclusively focused on the role of oxytocin in the regulation of prosocial behavior, including trust, attachment, and sexual behavior (2–5), largely ignoring potential effects of the neuropeptide on ingestive behavior and metabolism.”
From Oxytocin Reduces Reward-Driven Food Intake in Humans (2013) · cites this paper as [5]
In the citing paper
“Oxytocin, the hypothalamic neuropeptide important for social cognition and behavior, has been shown to promote prosocial approach, such as trust and cooperative behaviors (16, 21, 22, but also see ref. 23)”
From Placebo treatment facilitates social trust and approach behavior (2018) · cites this paper as [16]
In the citing paper
“Trust signals prosocial approach to others (16) and is an important determinant to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships (17).”
From Placebo treatment facilitates social trust and approach behavior (2018) · cites this paper as [16]
In the citing paper
“The amount of investment indicated trust in others (16).”
From Placebo treatment facilitates social trust and approach behavior (2018) · cites this paper as [16]
In the citing paper
“Oxytocin, the hypothalamic neuropeptide important for social cognition and behavior, has been shown to promote prosocial approach, such as trust and cooperative behaviors (16, 21, 22, but also see ref. 23)”
From Placebo treatment facilitates social trust and approach behavior (2018) · cites this paper as [16]
In the citing paper
“seminal work by Kosfeld et al. (2005) showed that intranasally administered OT can increase trust among human individuals.”
From Long-term oxytocin administration enhances the experience of attachment (2017) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al. (2005)
In the citing paper
“using a social trust game with monetary stakes, Kosfeld et al. (2005) showed that a single-dose of OT significantly increased the readiness to bear social risks arising through interpersonal interactions.”
From Long-term oxytocin administration enhances the experience of attachment (2017) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al. (2005)
In the citing paper
“oxytocin administration exerts no significant behavioral change in strangers who share no pre-existing bonding relationship (Barraza et al., 2011; De Dreu, 2012b; Kosfeld et al., 2005; Zak et al., 2007)”
From Approaching the biology of human parental attachment: Brain imaging, oxytocin and coordinated assessments of mothers and fathers (2014) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al., 2005
In the citing paper
“The positive effects of OT on social cognition may only be observed when the tasks demand a binding relationship in which reward contingencies are congruent between two players, where they form a partnership by becoming stake holders of common interest (Barraza et al., 2011; Kosfeld et al., 2005; Zak et al., 2007).”
From Approaching the biology of human parental attachment: Brain imaging, oxytocin and coordinated assessments of mothers and fathers (2014) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al., 2005
In the citing paper
“thereby promoting in-group trust (Kosfeld et al, 2005)”
From Oxytocin Facilitates Pavlovian Fear Learning in Males (2016) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al, 2005
In the citing paper
“These studies have shown that intranasally delivered oxytocin can increase trust or generosity in economic games (Kosfeld et al., 2005, Zak et al., 2007)”
From Oxytocin decreases aversion to angry faces in an associative learning task (2010) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al., 2005
In the citing paper
“While OT can facilitate appetitive approach behaviors, such as interpersonal trust and generosity (Kosfeld et al., 2005; Zak et al., 2007), pair bonding and maternal behavior (Strathearn et al., 2009; Scheele et al., 2012) and emotional empathy and face recognition (Hurlemann et al., 2010; Marsh et al., 2010)”
From Oxytocin facilitates approach behavior to positive social stimuli via decreasing anterior insula activity (2018) · cites this paper as Kosfeld et al., 2005
In the citing paper
“There is no doubt that oxytocin is implicated in the development of trust (10, 18), empathy, and prosociality (11), but these tendencies appear limited to individuals belonging to one's in-group (16, 17).”
From Oxytocin promotes human ethnocentrism (2011) · cites this paper as [18]
In the citing paper
“Indeed, intranasal administration of oxytocin in humans promotes trust and cooperation (11, 16–19), although such effects may be limited to in-group members and do not extend toward out-groups (16, 17).”
From Oxytocin promotes human ethnocentrism (2011) · cites this paper as [18]
In the citing paper
“To conform with prior research showing that effects of oxytocin peak after ∼30–40 min (10, 16, 18), after 38–42 min, the computer switched to the experimental task (lasting 15–20 min).”
From Oxytocin promotes human ethnocentrism (2011) · cites this paper as [18]
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“The first studies to report intranasal OT effects in humans were done in males only, showing a role for OT in trust and in the processing of socially relevant information (Kosfeld et al., 2005; Zak et al., 2007; Domes et al., 2007; Guastella et al., 2008a; Guastella et al., 2008b; Di Simplicio et al., 2009).”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Kosfeld, M., Heinrichs, M., Zak, P. J., Fischbacher, U., & Fehr, E.
- Affiliations
- University of Zurich (CH)
- Claremont Graduate University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Heinrichs, Markus
- Fehr, Ernst
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2005-06
- Volume
- 435
- Issue
- 7042
- Pages
- 673-676
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2138559331
- Cited by
- 3,690
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 78 · 2025: 92 · 2024: 111 · 2023: 128 · 2022: 134 · 2021: 209 · 2020: 205 · 2019: 233 · 2018: 184 · 2017: 186 · 2016: 208 · 2015: 232 · 2014: 260 · 2013: 238 · 2012: 236
- FWCI
- 148.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- Research Bank (Australian Catholic University) (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
- Cogito Foundation
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Universität Zürich
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Keywords
- oxytocin, trust, social risk, prosocial behavior, social attachment, neuropeptides, intranasal administration, interpersonal interaction, risk-taking
- MeSH terms
- Administration, Intranasal, Adult, Games, Experimental, Humans, Investments, Male, Oxytocin, Surveys and Questionnaires, Risk, Social Behavior, Trust
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