The vasopressin hormone
Similar to oxytocin, the vasopressin hormone affects trust, empathy, and social bonding.
Scientists have done studies in which they’ve injected naturally polygamous animals with the hormone, and found that the animals were more likely to stay monogamous.
Human studies confirm vasopressin’s impact, with a study of 7,000 Finnish twins finding that cheating women had a variant in the gene that lowered their levels of vasopressin.
Does this mean we should start injecting cheaters with loads of vasopressin? Maaaaybe – we’d need to do a lot more research. But again, it’s another genetic factor that has an impact on whether someone will be a cheater for life.
Discussion about this post