Antibiotic to Prevent Men from Cheating : Research

An antibiotic can now prevent men from cheating on their partners, say Japanese researchers.

Researchers at Waseda and Kyushu Universities analyzed the effect of an antibiotic called minocycline, a drug used to treat acne and pneumonia. Previous studies have shown that the drug reduces symptoms of schizophrenia and depression.

For the study, 98 men were shown eight photographs of attractive women. They were told to rate each woman on her trustworthiness (according to the men).

The participants were divided into two groups; first group was given a four-day oral treatment course of minocycline and the second, control group, was treated with a placebo pill.

The men were then shown photos of women and given 1300 yen ($13) and asked how much they world share with each woman.

According to the researchers if the men shared the money, the amount would be tripled. The participants were also told that the women would get a choice to share the money or betray by taking it all. The men were also told to asses each woman on her physical attractiveness.

The study revealed that the more attractive a man finds the woman; he is more likely to trust her.

The scientists found that men on the antibiotics gave less money to attractive women compared to those on placebo pill.

"In movies, a female spy often wins the trust of her male target using her physical attractiveness," researchers wrote. "The male target usually suspects that she is a spy, but because of her attractiveness, he becomes amorously entangled with the female spy despite concerns regarding her trustworthiness. For males, allocating valuable resources to physically attractive females may be evolutionarily adaptive, in that it may increase the probability of producing attractive offspring under natural selection," explained the researchers.

They said that this tendency toward resource allocation to attractive females creates 'noise' that complicates decisions in short-term economic exchanges, leading to the tendency to 'honey trap' males with this behavior.

"The current results indicate that minocycline may reduce the effect of arousal and lead to sober decision-making," researchers concluded.

However, what happens to men who are already in a relationship with an attractive woman and take the antibiotic, do they get withdrawal symptoms?