Journaling Can Provoke an Oxytocin Response

The top question among most of us who are interested in oxytocin is, "How can I get more of it?" I always try to promote natural ways to get an oxytocin rush, instead of buying probably-useless products over the internet.

A new study, published last month and reported by Science Daily, points to still another way: writing about your values and core beliefs.

Jennifer Crocker and Yu Niiya from the University of Michigan and Dominik Mischkowski from the University of Konstanz in Germany, followed up on a different study that showed coffee drinkers were more open to hearing information about why it's bad for you if they had first written about their most important value. Crocker and Niiya wanted to understand what caused this effect.

They did two experiments. First, they had people write for ten minutes; half the subjects wrote about their most important value, the other half about their least important value. Then, they rated how much love or empathy they felt afterwards.

In the second experiment, smokers and non-smokers did the same writing exercise, and then they read an article about the harm of smoking to your health. The people who had written about an important value felt more loving and they were also less defensive about the negative info on smoking.

They didn't test the subjects' blood, but the researchers think that oxytocin is what made the difference. According to the article,

The researchers speculate that the love and connection people feel after writing about important values could affect hormones related to care giving, such as oxytocin. Because oxytocin increases trust, it might account for reduced defensiveness in people who take a few minutes to reflect on their important values.

James Pennebaker has shown that writing about things that bother you can boost your immune system's functioning. A release of oxytocin also could explain that effect.

So, before you spend $49.95, sit down and think about what matters to you -- and write it down.

Comments

[Adam Khan]

That's an interesting result. Why do you suppose writing about your values would influence your oxytocin?

[Susan Kuchinskas]

I think that because we humans are so good at abstract thought and also at imagination, thinking and writing about values, which are a social construct, triggers the same brain activity as actual social activity.

It's also really interesting that these researchers mentioned oxytocin as the likely factor.

[Adam Khan]

In what way do you think values are social? I guess most moral or ethical values would have something to do with our conduct with others. Is that what you mean?

I'm thinking out loud here. I've been trying to think of a value I have personally that DOESN'T have to do with other people. And so far, I can't think of one. That surprises me. I think of my own values as very private and personal. But honesty has to do with others. Being trustworthy does too. I'm a writer. I like to learn and share what I know. I think of that as a high personal value. And it ALSO involves others. It could be considered a "social construct." Each value I thought of is really a social activity.

This is interesting...

Thank you, I knew you'd give a good answer!

Yes, and I agree -- it was surprisingly perspicacious that the researchers would mention oxytocin as a possible explanation.

[Susan Kuchinskas]

aww, thanks Adam, for your your faith in me -- and also for the thoughtful response. Now that you mention it, I can think of some things that might be called values that aren't social. For example, I try not to eat things that will make my body feel bad, like too much sugar or alcohol. I want to take care of my body and preserve my energy. Is that a value?

[Adam Khan]

That IS a value. It has to do with your relationship to yourself. Maybe even your affection for yourself? Concern for yourself? Caring about yourself?

People must be able to produce oxytocin even in response to their own affection for themselves, right? I mean you can masturbate and climax, and that must produce oxytocin. I wonder if you could massage your own shoulders and produce an oxytocin response?

[Susan Kuchinskas]

I had thought about masturbation, but not about whether simple self-affection would promote an oxytocin release. That gives a new meaning to self-love, doesn't it?

[Adam Khan]

We need an "Oxytocimeter." Then we could hook ourselves up to it and try things out to see what really raises oxytocin. Maybe rubbing your own shoulders does it. Maybe literally patting yourself on the back would do it.

[Susan Kuchinskas]

Our bodies have a built-in oxytocimeter. If you start to look for it, you probably will recognize certain times when you feel it.

[Adam Khan]

You mean the feeling of calm euphoria?

[Susan Kuchinskas]

at its bets. But sometimes I can notice just a subtle little feeling.