Oxytocin conditions intergroup relations through upregulated in-group empathy, cooperation, conformity, and defense
Open accessAbstract
Humans live in, rely on, and contribute to groups. Evolution may have biologically prepared them to quickly identify others as belonging to the in-group (vs. not), to decode emotional states, and to empathize with in-group members; to learn and conform to group norms and cultural practices; to extend and reciprocate trust and cooperation; and to aggressively protect the in-group against outside threat. We review evidence that these components of human group psychology rest on and are modulated by the hypothalamic neuropeptide oxytocin. It appears that oxytocin motivates and enables humans to 1) like and empathize with others in their groups, 2) comply with group norms and cultural practices, and 3) extend and reciprocate trust and cooperation, which may give rise to intergroup discrimination and sometimes defensive aggression against threatening (members of) out-groups. We explore the possibility that deficiencies in (components of) group psychology, seen in autistic spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, and borderline personality and social anxiety disorders, may be reduced by oxytocin administration. Avenues for new research are highlighted, and implications for the role of oxytocin in cooperation and competition within and between groups are discussed.
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Emotion discrimination abilities in mice are dependent on the OXT system.
“we have demonstrated that emotion discrimination abilities in mice are dependent on the OXT system”
From Oxytocin Signaling in the Central Amygdala Modulates Emotion Discrimination in Mice (2019) · cites this paper as [8]
OXT has been associated with social cognitive functions, such as emotion recognition in humans.
“OXT has been associated with social cognitive functions, such as emotion recognition [8-10, 33-36, 38, 39].”
From Oxytocin Signaling in the Central Amygdala Modulates Emotion Discrimination in Mice (2019) · cites this paper as [8]
Oxytocin and reward systems are involved in various types of social relationships and social-decision making in a large range of species, suggesting that the findings of this paper may not be limited to pair bonding.
“Importantly, oxytocin and the reward systems are involved in various types of social relationships and social-decision making in a large range of species 69,70, suggesting that the findings of this paper may not be limited to pair bonding.”
From Social experience alters oxytocinergic modulation in the nucleus accumbens of female prairie voles (2022) · cites this paper as [69]
Increasing evidence suggests that oxytocin's function is not always consistent with facilitating social approach, but that administering intranasal oxytocin can also lead to parochial, competitive, and envious behaviors and behaviors that appear to be driven by schadenfreude, which have an anti-social dimension.
“Since the publication of this study, increasing evidence suggests that OT's function is not always consistent with facilitating social approach, but that administering intranasal OT can also lead to parochial, competitive, and envious behaviors and behaviors that appear to be driven by schadenfreude 16,17,32 , which have an anti-social dimension.”
From A registered replication study on oxytocin and trust (2020) · cites this paper as [17]
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References 150 · Cited by 297
- Authors
- De Dreu, C. K. W., & Kret, M. E.
- Affiliations
- University of Amsterdam (NL)
- ORCID
- Kret, Mariska E.
- Venue
- Biological Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2016-02
- Volume
- 79
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 165-173
- ISSN
- 0006-3223 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2013814152
- Semantic Scholar
- c743e44343e3fa4d4772643f67420d0703ba1d31
- Cited by
- 297
- References
- 150
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 47 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 9
- FWCI
- 5.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- Locations
- Biological Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (publishedVersion)
- Leiden Repository (Leiden University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Leiden Repository (Leiden University) (submittedVersion)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Keywords
- oxytocin, intergroup relations, group psychology, conformity, trust and cooperation, intergroup discrimination, defensive aggression, outgroup, autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, social anxiety disorder, group norms
- MeSH terms
- Mental Disorders, Cooperative Behavior, Emotions, Empathy, Group Processes, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Oxytocin, Social Behavior
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