You are mixing two hormones effect together. Oxytocin is the "social bond" hormone. As you said, it helps create and foster social bonds but also make more mor

You are mixing two hormones effect together. Oxytocin is the "social bond" hormone. As you said, it helps create and foster social bonds but also make more more tribal. Cortisol is a "stress hormone" which gets released during stressful situations. Stressful situations also decrease Oxytocin release and high levels of Oxytocin lower levels of Cortisol, so the stress == tribalism link is not really warranted (at least not from a hormonal point of view).