How to be nice.

As we approach Thanksgiving, I wanted to mention that, as it turns out, happiness may be contagious, and being grateful isn't just good for the soul, it's good for the body as well.  And apparently one of the things we should be very grateful for is the action of a small peptide hormone known as oxytocin.

Above all, be thankful for your brain’s supply of oxytocin, the small, celebrated peptide hormone that, by the looks of it, helps lubricate our every prosocial exchange, the thousands of acts of kindness, kind-of kindness and not-as-nakedly-venal-as-I-could-have-been kindness that make human society possible. Scientists have long known that the hormone plays essential physiological roles during birth and lactation, and animal studies have shown that oxytocin can influence behavior too, prompting voles to cuddle up with their mates, for example, or to clean and comfort their pups. Now a raft of new research in humans suggests that oxytocin underlies the twin emotional pillars of civilized life, our capacity to feel empathy and trust.

We talked a little bit about oxytocin in class on Thursday, and I said I would link to a recent article on it. It's a good read - I recommend it.  The article focuses on some new findings about oxytocin, suggesting that it's involved in a lot about what makes society function relatively smoothly, from the ways in which we trust strangers within the context of scripted social interactions to how good we are at inferring people's emotional states using only their eyes as our guide.

While genetic data suggests that there are stable individual differences between people, there are also laboratory studies in which subjects are given oxytocin artificially.  These subjects then show differences in their behavioral and emotional responses to others.

In the Nature Study, 58 healthy male students were given a single nasal squirt of either oxytocin or a placebo solution and, 50 minutes later, were instructed to start playing rounds of the Trust Game with each other, using monetary units they could either invest or withhold. The researchers found that the oxytocin-enhanced subjects were significantly more likely than the placebo players to trust their financial partners: whereas 45 percent of the oxytocin group agreed to invest the maximum amount of money possible, just 21 percent of the control group proved so amenable.

As you all are undoubtedly aware of, tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  While certainly a welcome holiday, it is often fraught with tension and difficulty for many.  As laid out in this recent article, Thanksgiving, as well as a time for thanks, can be a time for tension.

As families gather around the country this week to celebrate Thanksgiving, many of them are bracing for the intense emotions of the holiday meal. The combination of food and family often brings out longstanding tensions, criticism and battles for control. Simple issues like cooking with butter or asking for seconds are fraught with family conflict and commentary.

Last year, my mother in law came over for Thanksgiving, and, of all things, the mashed potatoes were a source of controversy.  It took more patience than I had to handle that. She's coming over again this year, and comments have already been relayed to me about mashed potatoes, although she's said nothing to me directly about it.  In thinking about these articles together, one thought struck my mind.

I need some of that nasal spray.