The Ethics Of Using Oxytocin Sprays
Oxytocin is a very interesting compound, one that primarily serves as a natural hormone in the human body to stimulate child-bearing preparations, but also one that recent evidence suggests could serve a myriad of purposes, most recently being a “trust hormone”. What exactly does this mean? Well, recently studies and scientific evidence show that by using a small amount of the Oxytocin hormone as a spray or aftershave, an individual can influence another from afar and inspire immediate trust, without the person even knowing the one wearing the hormone. As this is not why the hormone is naturally produced in the body or originally synthesized, using it for these means has generated much controversy in both the scientific and ethical world. This article will attempt to examine the claims of both sides and look at the ramifications of this product’s use.
On one side of the argument, you have those that claim that earning trust through a chemically produced spray is not fair, nor ethical. They claim that although Oxytocin is produced naturally in the body, synthesizing it and using it for these means is against nature and will create an even more unbalanced playing field in the job industry, relationships, and the dating world. Another claim against Oxytocin is propagated by mostly those that have never tried it or seen it’s trials; that Oxytocin is just another failed attempt at a chemical that will magically attract others to an individual, and that it is not actually that much more affective than the naturally scents and hormones our bodies produce. However, this claim has reduced in validity as trial after trial has been released touting the amazing results when an Oxytocin spray is used. Lastly, there is a group of people who are simply against Oxytocin because they don’t want to be taken advantage of themselves. These people are worried, and somewhat rightly so, that they won’t be able to tell when they are trusting someone because they should and their natural instinct is telling them to, or if they are trusting them because they are inhaling a hormone that is traveling through their blood stream and affecting their brain function.
After reading the previous dissenting opinions it is hard to imagine the possible rebuttals against these seemingly legitimate claims, but there are in fact a multitude of them, and many stronger than the opposition. For example, to counter argue the point that it might be unfair to others and unethical to use a manufactured hormone to influence others, one could bring up the similarity between that claim and perfume. Perfume is a gigantic industry, and is used by a large percent of both the female and male population, yet little is brought up on the fact that it too can affect the brain function of the opposite sex. Although it definitely doesn’t affect brain function as much as a manufactured hormone would, perfumes can actually replace oxygen in the air you take in, as well as bombard your olfactory senses, creating a total chaotic situation in one’s brain where they might become less aware and calculating. I myself have even found that when around heavily perfumed females, I tend to lose track of where I am, what I have been doing, or even a whole chunk of time. As far as the other arguments go, the one as to Oxytocin’s ineffectiveness has already been proven almost conclusively incorrect by the numerous studies conducted. As for the people who are worried about being taken advantage of, the Oxytocin spray, although effective, can only create a temporary feeling of trust and not one that can replace trust built upon a personal relationship, so even if you were to be effected by the spray, it wouldn’t be enough to cause you to make rash decisions based only on the spray.
Overall, due to the research and field work put into the study of Oxytocin as a “trust hormone”, the side arguing in favor of the use of it seems to be winning, but not necessarily in terms of public opinion. However, over time, my guess is that more and more people will come to “trust” the results and accept Oxytocin sprays as a reasonable form of perfume, aftershave, or cologne.
