Ethical issues in moral and social enhancement

2.4.
A case study: oxytocin
Increasing empathy and trust has been proposed as an example of moral 
bioenhancement (Persson and Savulescu, 2008; Savulescu and Persson, 2012b). 
Oxytocin, a hormone and neurotransmitter originally known for its role in 
childbirth and lactation, has recently been shown to affect social behaviour and has 
been proposed as a potential agent of modifying moral and social behaviour. It is 
worth to take a closer look at the effects of oxytocin as it demonstrates both the 
potential effectiveness of psychopharmacological interventions in modifying social 
and morally-relevant behaviour and the complexity of its effects.
Studies in mice suggest that low levels of oxytocin correlate with impaired ability 
to recognise (Ferguson et al. 2000; Ferguson et al. 2001) and bond to oneʼs peers 
(Winslow and Insel, 2002). These observations came in part from experiments with 

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mice with a mutated oxytocin gene. Ferguson et al. (2001) showed that mouse
knock-outs show a profound social recognition deficit despite normal
olfactory and spatial learning abilities and that the social recognition ability can be 
fully restored by an injection of oxytocin in the medial amygdala. Similarly, a high 
level of this hormone seems to correlate with caring behaviour in rodents (Pedersen 
et al. 1982). 
In humans, oxytocin has also been shown to influence social behaviour and 
cognition. It also plays an important role in creating the mother-infant bond. 
Feldman and colleagues (2007) showed that a motherʼs level of oxytocin in the first 
trimester predicts the strength of the motherʼs attachment to the infant. In addition, 
a boost to oxytocin levels in experimental settings commonly achieved by 
administration of a nasal spray, seems to promote trust (Kosfeld et al. 2005; 
Baumgartner et al. 2008) and generous behaviours (Barraza and Zak, 2009; Zak et 
al. 2007). Oxytocin seems to influence social cognition (Theoridou et al. 2009), 
increase some aspects of memory for social stimuli (Unkelbach et al. 2008; 
Guastella et al. 2008) and to increase ʻmind-readingʼ ability (Domes et al. 2007).
Substantial effect sizes obtained in experiments on trust and generosity (for 
example, participants were 80 per cent more generous in the oxytocin group than in 
the placebo group in the Zak et al. (2007), and 30 per cent more trusting in the 
experiment done by Baumgartner and colleagues (Baumgartner et al. 2008), 
including some laboratory experiments that may have relatively high ecological 
validity (in Ditzen et al. [2008], couples were asked to argue, with researchers 
measuring the frequency of positive behaviour such as listening, confirming or 
laughing during the conflict), show that the use of oxytocin in everyday life is 
plausible. Moreover, oxytocin can be delivered in a practical way. Injections are not 
required: several of the mentioned studies used a nasal spray to deliver oxytocin. 
Several websites already market a nasal spray containing oxytocin,
8
although there 
is a need to evaluate the quality and the amount of the active ingredient in the 
commercial versions of the product to ensure that their effectiveness is similar to 
that demonstrated in empirical studies. The marketing claims on those websites 
might need to be taken with a pinch of salt at the very least. On the other hand, the 
8
e.g. http://oxytocinnasalspray.org; www.oxytocinstore.com. 

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justified scepticism about the oversimplifying claims used to market the product 
need not lead us to conclude that oxytocin has no effect on behaviour, especially 
given that the current evidence suggests a behavioural effect. 
Given decent effect sizes in experiments, we may worry that in many circumstances 
oxytocin might impede judgement and increase trust when trusting is unwarranted 
or even harmful (Damasio, 2005). This view could be supported by evidence that 
oxytocin seems to restore trust following betrayals (Baumgartner et al. 2008). These 
worries seem further justified given that although trust is an important social 
resource (Giddens, 1991), it can sometimes also be socially maladaptive 
(Greenspan et al. 2001). Some have even proposed that commercial and military 
applications could harness the potential of oxytocin to make people gullible 
(Dethlefs, 2007). But is it indeed the case that an increase in oxytocin leads people 
to trust others indiscriminately? 
Mikolajczak et al. (2010b) suggest that the matter is somewhat more complex. They 
point out that in previous experiments, participants rarely met the same partner 
twice, nor did they have any idea that the person they interacted with was 
unreliable. Moreover, previous research suggested that the effects of oxytocin, for 
example on aggressive behaviour (this is especially well-illustrated in research on 
aggression in female rodents), are context dependent (Campbell, 2008; Pedersen, 
2004). Mikolajczak et al.’s (2010b) doubts were confirmed in research that used a 
customised economic trust game incorporating repeated interaction, with some