negativity bias. In one study, researchers asked participants to identify the emotions displayed on people’s faces in a series of photos. Half were given a nasal spray that contained oxytocin; the other half received a placebo spray (the control group). Volunteers who had received the oxytocin spray were slower to identify fearful facial expression in the photos, and were less likely to mistake positive facial emotions for negative ones, as compared with the control group. This means that oxytocin lessens the tendency of our mind to immediately latch on to negative information. Relating to our
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