London: Wish your husband or boyfriend would show his caring side more often?
Scientists could have the answer to your prayers.
They have come up with a spray that makes men more affectionate and in tune with others' feelings.
Just a puff or two of the so-called "cuddle chemical" and even the most macho of males is as sensitive as a woman, they claim.
The spray is based on oxytocin — a hormone naturally made in the body and involved in sexual attraction, trust and confidence.
It is released into the blood during labour — triggering the production of breast milk — and floods the brain during breastfeeding, helping mother and baby bond.
The Cambridge and German scientists gave 24 healthy men nasal sprays containing oxytocin while 24 others received a placebo.
Afterwards the men were shown heart-wrenching photographs including a child embracing a cat and a man in mourning, and asked to describe the level of empathy they felt with those in the pictures. "The oxytocin group showed significantly higher emotional empathy levels than those who had taken the placebo," said Dr Rene Hurlemann, of the Friedrich-Wilhelms University of Bonn.
The finding raises the possibility that women could use oxytocin sprays to help macho boyfriends and husbands get in touch with their feminine side.
