Nature June 2005 PMID 15931222

Oxytocin increases trust in humans.

Michael Kosfeld, Markus Heinrichs, Paul J Zak, Urs Fischbacher, Ernst Fehr

Mentions

203
Peak: 9 in Feb 2019
across 7 sources since Feb 2019

Extended reach

217,810
potential audience

Total likes

151

Video views

3,398

Mentions per month

Feb 2019 – Oct 2025

Where it's discussed

  • News120 articles
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  • X / Twitter25 posts
  • Bluesky7 posts
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  • YouTube2 videos
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AI synopsis

What people are saying

Discussions highlight the historic importance of the 2005 study by Kosfeld et al., using words like 'important' and 'foundational,' which show respect for its role in understanding trust. Some posts reference subsequent citations and related research, reflecting a moderate level of interest and engagement, while skeptical comments about the approach suggest an awareness of ongoing debates within the scientific community.

AgreementModerate agreement

Most discussions acknowledge the findings of the publication, with some citing its historical significance and foundational role in social neuroscience.

InterestModerate interest

Participants show moderate curiosity, referencing well-known studies and considering broader implications, rather than deep analysis or critique.

EngagementNeutral engagement

Engagement appears limited to mentioning related studies and expressing general opinions, without extensive debate or elaboration.

ImpactModerate impact

The consensus suggests recognition of the study's influence, but with some skepticism about its current scientific validity and real-world application.

Abstract in brief

  • Oxytocin, a neuropeptide linked to social bonds in animals, increases trust among humans when administered intranasally, enhancing social interactions and cooperation.
  • The effect of oxytocin on trust is specific to social risks and does not simply make individuals more willing to take risks overall, indicating its role in social decision-making rather than general risk-taking behavior.
  • These findings highlight oxytocin's potential biological basis in fostering prosocial behaviors, which are crucial for maintaining trust in various societal, political, and economic contexts.]

Top posts

Most liked on X and Bluesky
Dan Quintana
@dsquintana · X

The next gen of citation stats/altmetrics need to have sentiment scores. For instance, of the 572 citations of the Kosfeld oxytocin trust study, 531 are just mentions, 27 present data that is consistent this work, and 14 papers present contradictory data https://t.co/dDzi64bszW https://t.co/3ZkSdnjQEd

Feb 25, 2019 · 40 likes · 7 shares · 20,475 followers View post →
Science Banana
@literalbanana · X

anyway this second oxytocin enthusiast neuroscientist was an author on an important 2005 paper, "Oxytocin increases trust in humans" with over 5000 citations on google scholar https://t.co/lH3bRbyc7w

Jul 5, 2025 · 29 likes · 1 share · 18,143 followers View post →
Dan Quintana
@dsquintana · X

But what about humans? Well, in 2005 a study was published in Nature that concluded intranasal oxytocin increases trust in humans https://t.co/KPXJKfX0yD We’ll return to this idea later... https://t.co/tu5HIutZ6B

Feb 14, 2019 · 15 likes · 2 shares · 20,475 followers View post →
高岸治人(Haruto Takagishi)
@HarutoTakagishi · X

Oxytocin increases trust in humans with a low disposition to trust https://t.co/9YmQe1RnFl

Oct 7, 2025 · 5 likes · 442 followers View post →
ちあきA4C【依存症・発達障害・アダルトチルドレン 】
@chiakiA4C · X

これだ > 2005 年スイスチューリッヒ大学経済学研究所のKosfeldらにより「健康成人男性へのオキシトシン投与により『他人への信頼』が増加する」という神経経済学的手法を用いた論文が発表された。 Kosfeld M, et al : Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Nature 435 : 673-676, 2005. https://t.co/9Oqn4NNv9n

Feb 6, 2023 · 2 likes · 1,243 followers View post →
Juan Luis Jiménez
@JuanLuis_JG · X

Y hasta aquí el hilo. Esta historia está extraída del libro “La Economía del bien común”, de Jean Tirole. El paper en el que se basa es Kosfeld et al (2005). Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Nature, 435, 673-676. Aquí una versión libre del artículo: https://t.co/njfbt93ITD

Feb 12, 2020 · 1 like · 24,016 followers View post →

All mentions

NEP-EXP: Experimental Economics
@repec-nep-exp.bsky.social · Bluesky

Oxytocin increases trust in humans with a low disposition to trust: Bodo Vogt; Paul Bengart; Caroylyn Declerck; Ernst Fehr

Oct 28, 2025 View post →
NEP-NEU: Neuroeconomics
@repec-nep-neu.bsky.social · Bluesky

Oxytocin increases trust in humans with a low disposition to trust: Bodo Vogt; Paul Bengart; Caroylyn Declerck; Ernst Fehr

Oct 28, 2025 View post →
NEP-EVO: Evolutionary Economics
@repec-nep-evo.bsky.social · Bluesky

Oxytocin increases trust in humans with a low disposition to trust: Bodo Vogt; Paul Bengart; Caroylyn Declerck; Ernst Fehr

Oct 27, 2025 View post →
NEP-SOC: Social Norms and Social Capital
@repec-nep-soc.bsky.social · Bluesky

Oxytocin increases trust in humans with a low disposition to trust: Bodo Vogt; Paul Bengart; Caroylyn Declerck; Ernst Fehr

Oct 27, 2025 View post →
高岸治人(Haruto Takagishi)
@HarutoTakagishi · X

Oxytocin increases trust in humans with a low disposition to trust https://t.co/9YmQe1RnFl

Oct 7, 2025 · 5 likes · 442 followers View post →
PsyArXivBot
@psyarxivbot.bsky.social · Bluesky

Oxytocin increases trust in humans with a low disposition to trust: https://osf.io/jrguk

Oct 4, 2025 View post →
bioRxivpreprint
@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · Bluesky

Oxytocin increases trust in humans with a low disposition to trust https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.01.679711v1

Oct 2, 2025 View post →
bioRxiv Neuroscience
@biorxiv_neursci · X

Oxytocin increases trust in humans with a low disposition to trust https://t.co/sSNpI54cqE #biorxiv_neursci

Oct 2, 2025 · 60,594 followers View post →
bioRxiv Neuroscience
@biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social · Bluesky

Oxytocin increases trust in humans with a low disposition to trust https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.01.679711v1

Oct 2, 2025 View post →
Eura
@EuraPrime · X

RT @literalbanana: anyway this second oxytocin enthusiast neuroscientist was an author on an important 2005 paper, "Oxytocin increases trus…

Aug 5, 2025 · 1 share · 109 followers View post →
Science Banana
@literalbanana · X

anyway this second oxytocin enthusiast neuroscientist was an author on an important 2005 paper, "Oxytocin increases trust in humans" with over 5000 citations on google scholar https://t.co/lH3bRbyc7w

Jul 5, 2025 · 29 likes · 1 share · 18,143 followers View post →
Omnipato
@pimeneses · X

@fernand79469691 "The Neural Basis of Romantic Love" - Fisher, Aron, & Brown (2005) "Oxytocin Increases Trust in Humans" - Kosfeld et al. (2005) "Serotonin and Emotional Processing: Does It Help Explain Antidepressant Drug Effects?" - Harmer et al. (2009)

Jul 8, 2024 · 595 followers View post →
ちあきA4C【依存症・発達障害・アダルトチルドレン 】
@chiakiA4C · X

これだ > 2005 年スイスチューリッヒ大学経済学研究所のKosfeldらにより「健康成人男性へのオキシトシン投与により『他人への信頼』が増加する」という神経経済学的手法を用いた論文が発表された。 Kosfeld M, et al : Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Nature 435 : 673-676, 2005. https://t.co/9Oqn4NNv9n

Feb 6, 2023 · 2 likes · 1,243 followers View post →
Andreas Ortmann
@aortmannphd · X

@R__INDEX Oxytocin increases trust in humans?

May 2, 2022 · 706 followers View post →
G
@G0513p · X

@farrisbaba Could there be oxytocin in them vaccines? https://t.co/b04XLKaXKT

Dec 16, 2021 · 1,099 followers View post →
G
@G0513p · X

@drsimonegold Could there be synthetic oxytocin in them vaccines? https://t.co/b04XLKaXKT

Dec 16, 2021 · 1,099 followers View post →
G
@G0513p · X

@RWMaloneMD @stevekavdc Could there be synthetic oxytocin in them there vaccines? https://t.co/b04XLKaXKT

Dec 16, 2021 · 1,099 followers View post →
G
@G0513p · X

Hmmm. Vaccines and promoting a compliant society! https://t.co/b04XLKaXKT

Dec 16, 2021 · 1,099 followers View post →
Oleksandr Z
@zov911 · X

“Like a harbor clotted with sunken vessels”: update: A few years ago I reported on this story: In 2005, Michael Kosfeld, Markus Heinrichs, Paul Zak, Urs Fischbacher, and Ernst Fehr published a paper, “Oxytocin increases trust in humans.” According to… https://t.co/GrLJmeYsdJ https://t.co/PfwTmKsQfu

Mar 28, 2021 · 1,838 followers View post →
Juan Luis Jiménez
@JuanLuis_JG · X

Y hasta aquí el hilo. Esta historia está extraída del libro “La Economía del bien común”, de Jean Tirole. El paper en el que se basa es Kosfeld et al (2005). Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Nature, 435, 673-676. Aquí una versión libre del artículo: https://t.co/njfbt93ITD

Feb 12, 2020 · 1 like · 24,016 followers View post →
nanasi
@nanasi43 · X

@sumomodane ○エストロゲン 性ホルモン産生酵素が個人の性格・気質に関連する | 理化学研究所 https://t.co/Ba2BWO7hJz ○オキシトシン Oxytocin increases trust in humans | Nature https://t.co/vm5XdquRoD 「愛情ホルモン」オキシトシンのダークサイド|https://t.co/mC6vFsfkGL https://t.co/TvOWQ7UqWR

Nov 10, 2019 · 496 followers View post →
Nathan Brouwer
@lobrowR · X

the general biology book I teach from features Kosfeld et al 2005 "Oxytocin increases trust in humans" as a case study. Would it be fair to say the approach used in oxytocin studies of this era has been discredited? @dsquintana @TheNewStats

Jun 19, 2019 · 1 like · 527 followers View post →
Josh Nicholson
@joshmnicholson · X

RT @dsquintana: The next gen of citation stats/altmetrics need to have sentiment scores. For instance, of the 572 citations of the Kosfeld…

Mar 8, 2019 · 7 shares · 1,661 followers View post →
@mrgunn ⏸️
@mrgunn · X

RT @dsquintana: The next gen of citation stats/altmetrics need to have sentiment scores. For instance, of the 572 citations of the Kosfeld…

Feb 26, 2019 · 7 shares · 6,720 followers View post →
Scite
@Scite · X

RT @dsquintana: The next gen of citation stats/altmetrics need to have sentiment scores. For instance, of the 572 citations of the Kosfeld…

Feb 26, 2019 · 7 shares · 9,243 followers View post →
Daniel MacArthur
@dgmacarthur · X

RT @dsquintana: The next gen of citation stats/altmetrics need to have sentiment scores. For instance, of the 572 citations of the Kosfeld…

Feb 25, 2019 · 7 shares · 39,152 followers View post →
Pedro Moreira
@pedromsmoreira · X

RT @dsquintana: The next gen of citation stats/altmetrics need to have sentiment scores. For instance, of the 572 citations of the Kosfeld…

Feb 25, 2019 · 7 shares · 80 followers View post →
Sean C. Rife
@seanrife · X

RT @dsquintana: The next gen of citation stats/altmetrics need to have sentiment scores. For instance, of the 572 citations of the Kosfeld…

Feb 25, 2019 · 7 shares · 767 followers View post →
Dan Quintana
@dsquintana · X

The next gen of citation stats/altmetrics need to have sentiment scores. For instance, of the 572 citations of the Kosfeld oxytocin trust study, 531 are just mentions, 27 present data that is consistent this work, and 14 papers present contradictory data https://t.co/dDzi64bszW https://t.co/3ZkSdnjQEd

Feb 25, 2019 · 40 likes · 7 shares · 20,475 followers View post →
Liz May
@lizmayessex · X

RT @dsquintana: But what about humans? Well, in 2005 a study was published in Nature that concluded intranasal oxytocin increases trust in…

Feb 14, 2019 · 2 shares · 2,575 followers View post →
Dan Quintana
@dsquintana · X

But what about humans? Well, in 2005 a study was published in Nature that concluded intranasal oxytocin increases trust in humans https://t.co/KPXJKfX0yD We’ll return to this idea later... https://t.co/tu5HIutZ6B

Feb 14, 2019 · 15 likes · 2 shares · 20,475 followers View post →
Polina
@Null_Sin · X

Recent research has shown that the peptide hormone oxytocin increases trust in humans. However, oxytocin also makes individuals susceptible to betrayal, because under influence of oxytocin, subjects perseverate in giving trust to others they know are untrustworthy.-

Feb 4, 2019 · 51 followers View post →