Neuroeconomics experiment reveals that giving Valentine’s Day gifts to partners has biological impact on men’s happiness

For many men, Valentine’s Day is a chore, an awkward holiday manufactured by marketers to sell greeting cards and overpriced roses.

But a new experiment by Claremont Graduate University (CGU) neuroscientist Paul Zak suggests that participating in Valentine’s Day clichés may not be so bad for men.

In fact, giving a gift to a partner and sharing a few kinds words can produce a measurable biological impact on a man’s happiness.

Zak traveled to Denmark and teamed with Danish chocolate producer Anthon Berg to uncover whether men experience an increase in the hormone oxytocin when they are kind and generous to their partners. Oxytocin is sometimes called the love hormone because its levels in the body can be linked to feelings of happiness and closeness to other people.

The experiment focused on 32 Danish couples between the ages of 20 and 75. Zak separated the men and women and then took blood samples from the men.

After the blood draws the men were asked to write down what they loved about their partners. They were then reunited with the women at which time they gave the women a box of chocolate and said why they loved them. Again Zak took blood samples from the men.

Zak analyzed the blood samples and then compared the oxytocin levels from the before and after draws. He found that the oxytocin level in the blood of the participating men increased by an average of 27.5 percent after they gave the chocolate and shared their feelings.

The oxytocin spike is nearly on par with what a woman experiences on her wedding day Zak said.

“Oxytocin makes us feel more connected to other people because the hormone is released when one’s own generosity is reciprocated and when other people’s needs are more important than our own ” Zak said. ”It is good for us to give presents and it benefits the man. So maybe now we can forget about men being from the Stone Age where feelings are concerned.”

Zak the director of CGU’s Center for Neuroeconomic Studies is credited with the first published use of the term “neuroeconomics” and has been a vanguard in this new discipline.

His lab discovered in 2004 that oxytocin an ancient chemical in our brains allows us to determine whom to trust. His current research is showing that oxytocin is responsible for virtuous behaviors working as the brain’s “moral molecule.” This knowledge is being used to understand the basis for modern civilizations and modern economies improve negotiations and treat patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Anthon Berg released a promotional video to document the results of the experiment.

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