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<td><span style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;">PsyPost – Psychology News</span></td>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/scientists-observe-synchronized-oxytocin-in-couples-after-sex/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Scientists observe synchronized oxytocin in couples after sex</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jul 28th 2025, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in the <em><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-025-03144-z" target="_blank">Archives of Sexual Behavior</a></em> provides rare insight into how oxytocin levels change across a sexual encounter between romantic partners in their own homes. The researchers found that men’s and women’s oxytocin levels tended to peak 40 minutes after sex and showed signs of synchronization during that period, though the hormone’s link to orgasm was weaker than previously believed.</p>
<p>Oxytocin is often referred to as the “love hormone” or “bonding hormone” because of its role in social connection, emotional bonding, and reproductive behavior. It is produced in the brain by the hypothalamus and released into the bloodstream by the pituitary gland. Researchers can detect oxytocin in saliva, blood, and urine, and it has been associated with behaviors such as cuddling, trust, pair bonding, and sexual satisfaction.</p>
<p>Much of the research on oxytocin has been conducted in laboratories or medical settings, often with small, non-diverse samples. While previous studies have shown increases in oxytocin during sexual activity and after orgasm, researchers have rarely measured how the hormone fluctuates during a real-life sexual encounter between two people in a natural setting. The team behind this study, including Amanda Denes at the University of Connecticut and colleagues from multiple U.S. institutions, aimed to fill that gap by studying couples in their own homes.</p>
<p>The researchers recruited 49 mixed-sex couples who were in romantic, monogamous relationships lasting at least three months. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 31 and were not married. Most were white, but the sample also included individuals who identified as Hispanic or Latinx, Asian, mixed race, and Black. To be eligible, participants needed to be in good physical and mental health, free from endocrine disorders, and not taking medications known to affect hormonal balance (with the exception of birth control).</p>
<p>Each couple visited a university laboratory where they completed surveys and received a take-home saliva collection kit. They were instructed to collect four samples each: immediately before sex, immediately after sex, 20 minutes after sex, and 40 minutes after sex. The samples were taken using the passive drool method and frozen for later analysis. </p>
<p>To maintain ecological validity, the sexual activity occurred in the participants’ homes without any researchers present. The study defined sexual activity broadly as any activity “below the belt,” such as intercourse or manual and oral stimulation. Participants also completed surveys about orgasm, foreplay, and other details of the encounter.</p>
<p>The saliva samples were analyzed using a highly sensitive assay to measure oxytocin concentrations. Although there was no statistically significant overall change in oxytocin levels over time, patterns emerged when examining men and women separately. On average, women had the highest oxytocin levels before sex and again at the 40-minute mark. For men, oxytocin levels increased gradually across the sexual episode, reaching their highest point at the 40-minute post-sex sample.</p>
<p>The researchers also looked for signs of hormonal synchrony between partners. While each person’s oxytocin levels tended to be internally consistent across the four timepoints, there were also correlations between partners’ oxytocin levels after sex. Specifically, women’s and men’s oxytocin concentrations were positively correlated at 20 and 40 minutes after sex, suggesting a biological alignment that may reflect or promote intimacy.</p>
<p>One aim of the study was to examine whether oxytocin levels before sex predicted whether participants experienced orgasm. For women, there was a marginally significant association suggesting that higher pre-sex oxytocin might increase the odds of orgasm. No such pattern was observed for men. Additionally, the researchers found no evidence that experiencing orgasm led to higher post-sex oxytocin levels in either group, challenging some past findings that emphasized oxytocin spikes following climax.</p>
<p>The researchers also explored how specific types of foreplay, such as hugging or receiving oral sex, were related to oxytocin levels. Among men, these behaviors were linked to higher average oxytocin. For women, receiving hand stimulation interacted with time in ways that influenced hormone levels, although no specific timepoint showed a statistically significant effect. The researchers controlled for these variables in follow-up analyses and found that the main patterns held steady.</p>
<p>Other exploratory findings suggested that women using hormonal birth control had higher oxytocin levels across the sexual episode. Additionally, higher body mass index was associated with higher oxytocin levels among women, but these factors did not meaningfully change the overall conclusions of the study.</p>
<p>There are some limitations to consider. Because participants collected the samples on their own, it’s possible that timing errors occurred, especially during the post-sex period. The researchers also lacked detailed information about what occurred during sex or immediately afterward, which could have influenced oxytocin production. They did not assess participants’ menstrual cycles, history of pregnancy, or certain medical conditions that could affect hormonal responses.</p>
<p>The researchers note that oxytocin’s role in sexuality is likely influenced by social and cultural factors as well as biology. For example, women and men may experience different expectations around sex, intimacy, and emotional expression, which could shape hormonal responses. The authors encourage future research to consider the complex interplay of gender, sexuality, and physiology when examining hormones like oxytocin.</p>
<p>Although this study did not find strong support for a direct link between orgasm and oxytocin spikes, the results suggest that the post-sex period may be an important time for hormonal synchrony between partners. The shared increase in oxytocin during this time could support feelings of closeness and bonding, which align with prior research showing that affectionate behavior after sex is associated with higher relationship satisfaction.</p>
<p>Future research could build on these findings by incorporating more diverse couples, including same-sex or nonbinary partners, and by using methods that allow for more precise timing of sample collection. Researchers might also examine additional hormones, such as cortisol, to better understand how stress and intimacy interact during and after sexual activity. Laboratory studies, while less naturalistic, could also include multiple biological samples to clarify how oxytocin levels in saliva compare to those in blood or cerebrospinal fluid.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-025-03144-z" target="_blank">Charting Salivary Oxytocin Across an Episode of Naturally Occurring Partnered Sex</a>,” was authored by Amanda Denes, Margaret Bennett‑Brown, John P. Crowley, Anuraj Dhillon, Talea Cornelius, John L. Stebbins, and Steve W. Granger.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/new-psychology-research-challenges-influential-theory-linking-childhood-poverty-to-risk-taking/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">New psychology research challenges influential theory linking childhood poverty to risk-taking</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jul 28th 2025, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>People who grow up in poverty may respond to life-threatening situations by taking more financial risks—but this connection may be much weaker than previously thought. A new study published in the <em><a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2025-54388-001?doi=1" target="_blank">Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied</a></em> attempted to replicate an influential 2011 study that tied childhood poverty to riskier and more impulsive financial choices when individuals are reminded of death. The new research found only limited support for those claims, with much smaller effects than originally reported and no evidence of an effect on impulsive choices.</p>
<p>The study was conducted by Joe Gladstone and his colleagues at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder. Their goal was to test whether early-life economic conditions shape the way people make financial decisions when confronted with thoughts of their own mortality.</p>
<p>The original research by Griskevicius and colleagues <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0021082" target="_blank">had suggested</a> that people from lower-income childhood environments might adopt a faster, more risk-prone strategy to navigate an uncertain and dangerous world. The theory behind this idea comes from a framework in evolutionary biology known as life history theory. </p>
<p>According to this theory, organisms adjust their survival and reproductive strategies based on the availability of resources and stability in their environments. In humans, it has been proposed that those who grow up in poverty may become more oriented toward short-term rewards and higher risk, especially in situations that trigger thoughts of danger or death.</p>
<p>Gladstone and his team set out to test this idea using a much larger and more diverse sample than the original. Whereas the 2011 study included 71 university students, the new replication included more than 1,000 adults from across the United States, recruited online. The average age of participants was about 40 years, and the sample included a wide range of income levels and educational backgrounds.</p>
<p>Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. One group read a news-style article that emphasized threats to life and safety, such as violence and death, to subtly prompt thoughts about mortality. The other group read a neutral article about someone losing their keys. Afterward, participants completed two decision-making tasks. One asked them to choose between a guaranteed sum of money or a gamble for a larger amount, designed to measure financial risk-taking. The other task measured time preference, or how strongly people prefer smaller rewards immediately over larger rewards later.</p>
<p>The researchers also asked participants to reflect on their socioeconomic background during childhood and in adulthood. This was measured through questions about whether their family had enough money growing up, how wealthy their neighborhood felt, and how they perceived their financial standing compared to peers. A similar set of questions assessed their current financial stability.</p>
<p>When the researchers analyzed the data, they did find a statistically significant interaction between mortality cues and childhood poverty on financial risk-taking. People who reported growing up in lower-income environments were slightly more likely to take financial risks after being exposed to thoughts about death. </p>
<p>However, the size of this effect was extremely small—so small that the researchers questioned its practical significance. On a seven-question task measuring risk, the difference between low-income and high-income childhood backgrounds under threat amounted to less than one additional risky choice.</p>
<p>In contrast to the original study, the new research found no evidence that mortality salience influenced time preference. People did not show a greater desire for immediate rewards based on their childhood income background, even when reminded of their own mortality. This calls into question one of the original study’s key findings.</p>
<p>To explore whether age might explain the difference in results, the researchers conducted additional analyses. They found that among younger participants—those closer in age to the university students in the original study—the predicted pattern for time preference was somewhat more apparent. </p>
<p>Younger people from lower-income backgrounds showed a slight tendency to prefer immediate rewards when primed with thoughts of death. This effect was not present in older participants. The researchers suggest that age-related differences in decision-making might help explain why the original findings failed to replicate in their broader sample.</p>
<p>The study also included a number of improvements over the original. It was preregistered, meaning the researchers specified their hypotheses and methods before collecting data. They used attention checks to make sure participants engaged with the reading materials, and all data and analysis code were made publicly available. These steps were taken to improve transparency and reduce the risk of bias.</p>
<p>Despite some partial replication of the original findings, the authors caution against over-interpreting their results. They note that the effect sizes observed in their study are too small to have much impact on real-world behavior. For example, the observed differences in risk-taking were unlikely to translate into noticeable changes in financial habits like investing or borrowing.</p>
<p>The researchers also raise questions about the broader application of life history theory to individual human behavior. While the theory may help explain broad patterns across species or large populations, it may not be as useful for predicting how individuals will respond to specific life events. The authors suggest that other factors—such as current financial status, psychological traits, or cultural context—might play a larger role in shaping financial decision making.</p>
<p>“Overall, we interpret our results as challenging the practical applicability of [life history theory] to individual differences in risk preferences and temporal discounting under mortality salience,” they concluded.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/xap0000526" target="_blank">Childhood Poverty and Its Impact on Financial Decision Making Under Threat: A Preregistered Replication of Griskevicius et al. (2011b)</a>,” was authored by Joe J. Gladstone, Meredith Lehman, and Mallory Decker.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/when-parents-get-involved-in-their-kids-love-lives-it-can-shake-up-their-own-relationship/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">When parents get involved in their kids’ love lives, it can shake up their own relationship</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jul 28th 2025, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>Emerging adults often lean on their parents for emotional support while forging their own romantic relationships. But new research suggests that when parents try to influence their child’s love life—whether by helping or hindering—it can affect the stability of their relationship with that child.</p>
<p>The study, published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502251345599" target="_blank">Communication Research</a></em>, found that both supportive and obstructive parental behaviors were linked to feelings of turbulence in the parent-child relationship, in part through the tone of their conversations about the child’s romantic partner. However, the impact of these behaviors depended on how open the family typically is in its communication and how much the child values the parent’s opinion.</p>
<p>The research was conducted by Paul Schrodt and Emily Stager of Texas Christian University. The study builds on relational turbulence theory, a framework that explains how uncertainty and interpersonal influence can affect communication and emotional stability during life transitions. While the theory was initially developed to study romantic partners, the authors applied it to parent-child relationships during early adulthood—a time when children often seek more independence while still relying on their parents.</p>
<p>Past research has shown that parents frequently try to influence who their children date. Some encourage these relationships by inviting partners to family events or giving advice, while others use guilt, pressure, or manipulation to discourage them. These behaviors can shape not only the child’s romantic relationship but also the emotional dynamics between parent and child. Schrodt and Stager set out to explore how this influence plays out through the lens of relational turbulence theory.</p>
<p>“Our interest in this topic stems from both my own personal experience as a father of two young adult sons who has navigated different kinds of conversations about who they were dating, and my coauthor’s experience as a young adult daughter who married last year but had experienced some challenging conversations with her own parents while dating her future husband,” explained Schrodt, the Philip J. & Cheryl C. Burguières Professor in the Department of Communication Studies.</p>
<p>“Emily Stager was my master’s student, and this work comes from our work together on her master’s thesis. Together, we observed that relational turbulence theory was developed and applied primarily to romantic partners’ communication and experiences of turbulence in their own romantic relationships, so we sought to extend the theory by exploring whether parents’ involvement in their young adult children’s romantic relationships produced comparable levels of turbulence within the parent-child relationship.”</p>
<p>To conduct the study, the researchers recruited 264 college-aged participants between 18 and 24 who were currently involved in a romantic relationship. Most participants identified as White, straight, and female. Each person completed an online survey asking about their romantic relationship, their relationship with one parent (either mother or father, chosen at random), and how that parent had either supported or interfered with the romantic relationship. The survey also asked participants to describe how positive or negative their recent conversations with the parent had been about the romantic partner, and to rate how chaotic or stable their relationship with the parent currently felt.</p>
<p>The researchers used well-established psychological scales and statistical modeling to analyze the results. Parent interference was measured through statements such as “My parent makes it harder for me to schedule time with my partner,” while parent facilitation included statements like “My parent helps me resolve conflict with my partner.” Relational turbulence was measured by participants’ agreement with terms like “chaotic” or “tumultuous” to describe their current relationship with the parent.</p>
<p>The findings revealed that both interference and facilitation were directly linked to relational turbulence, but in opposite directions. When parents interfered with the romantic relationship, the child was more likely to report a strained or chaotic relationship with that parent. When parents supported the relationship, the child was more likely to report a smooth and stable relationship with the parent.</p>
<p>These associations were also explained, in part, by the tone of their conversations. Interference was linked to more negative conversations about the partner, which in turn were linked to greater turbulence. Facilitation was linked to more positive conversations, which were associated with less turbulence.</p>
<p>In other words, the emotional tone of parent-child discussions about a child’s romantic partner appeared to help explain why a parent’s involvement—whether helpful or not—could shift the emotional climate of their own relationship with their child.</p>
<p>“Parent interference with the child’s romantic relationship may heighten turbulence in the parent-child relationship by creating more negative conversations about the child’s romantic partner, whereas parent facilitation may reduce turbulence in the parent-child relationship by creating more positive conversations between parent and child about the child’s romantic partner,” Schrodt told PsyPost.</p>
<p>But the story didn’t end there. The researchers also wanted to know when these effects were stronger or weaker. They looked at two factors that might shape the impact of parental involvement: how much the family encouraged open conversations (called “conversation orientation”) and how much the child valued the parent’s opinion about the relationship.</p>
<p>The results showed that in families with low levels of open communication, parental interference had a stronger negative impact on the parent-child relationship, especially when the child placed high importance on the parent’s opinion. In contrast, in families that typically had open and frequent conversations about personal matters, interference from the parent didn’t seem to harm the relationship as much—possibly because open communication had built a foundation of trust and resilience.</p>
<p>A similar pattern appeared with facilitation. In low conversation-oriented families, when the child valued the parent’s opinion, support from the parent had the strongest positive effect on the parent-child relationship. But in highly conversation-oriented families, support from a parent actually predicted more turbulence—if the child highly valued the parent’s opinion. The researchers speculated that in these families, ongoing support might come across as intrusive or overly involved, especially during a life stage when the child is trying to assert autonomy.</p>
<p>“The direct associations between both forms of parent involvement (i.e., interference and facilitation) and turbulence in the parent-child relationship depend upon the family’s conversation orientation (or how open the family communication environment is in general) and how much the child values the parent’s opinion about their romantic partnership,” Schrodt explained. “Specifically, parents who interfere with their child’s romantic relationship but do so in the context of past family conversations that are open and honest essentially mitigate the harm that may come to their own relationship with the child as a result of their involvement.”</p>
<p>“Likewise, in high conversation-oriented families, parent facilitation inversely predicts turbulence for young adults who do not value their parent’s opinion, but it positively predicts turbulence for young adults who highly value their parent’s opinion. We see conversation orientation establishing a certain set of norms for family interactions that may be violated in positive or negative ways when parents who typically do (or do not) engage their children in open discussions on a variety of topics take a particular interest in talking about, and attempting to influence, their child’s romantic relationship.”</p>
<p>“Essentially, we discovered that parent facilitation in high conversation-oriented families may either be negatively or positively associated with turbulence in the parent-child relationship depending upon whether the child values the parent’s opinion about their romantic partnership,” Schrodt continued. “In particular, parents from high conversation-oriented families who attempt to support and facilitate their child’s romantic partnership may experience something akin to a boomerang effect, where the attention, ongoing conversations, and influence attempts they give to their child’s relationship may be interpreted as intrusive and/or controlling, leading to a sense of chaos and instability that undermines the kind of relationship the child wants to have with their parents.”</p>
<p>But the authors caution that their sample may not reflect the experiences of all families. The participants were mostly White, straight, college-enrolled women, which limits how broadly the results can be applied. Future research could explore how these dynamics play out in more diverse populations, including families with different cultural values or sexual orientations.</p>
<p>In addition, while the study measured participants’ perceptions of their parents’ behavior and relationship dynamics, it did not include the parents’ perspectives or the partner’s input. The study was also cross-sectional, meaning it captured a snapshot in time rather than tracking changes over a longer period. These limitations make it difficult to draw firm conclusions about how these dynamics evolve or influence one another.</p>
<p>Despite these constraints, the research offers a window into how conversations about romantic partners shape parent-child relationships during a pivotal stage of life. It also shows how family communication patterns and individual attitudes can influence whether parental involvement helps or harms that bond.</p>
<p>“Our primary long-term goal for this research is to continue expanding the range of relationships that relational turbulence theory can be applied to,” Schrodt said. “As I noted above, historically, this theory was developed and used to explain transitions and communication in romantic relationships, but our work here and other recent work in our field has begun to apply and test the propositions of the theory in parent-child relationships and in other social and familial contexts.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502251345599" target="_blank">Emerging Adults’ Relational Turbulence with Parents as a Function of Parent Involvement in Their Romantic Relationship: A Conditional Process Analysis</a>,” was published online June 14, 2025.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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