The DOI matches its Crossref record; 28 of the 30 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Oxytocin enhances the experience of attachment security
Open accessAbstract
Repeated interactions between infant and caregiver result in either secure or insecure relationship attachment patterns, and insecure attachment may affect individual emotion-regulation and health. Given that oxytocin enhances social approach behavior in animals and humans, we hypothesized that oxytocin might also promote the subjective experience of attachment security in humans. Within a 3-week interval, 26 healthy male students classified with an insecure attachment pattern were invited twice to an experimental session. At the beginning of each experiment, a single dose of oxytocin or placebo was administered intranasally, using a double-blind, placebo-controlled within-subject design. In both conditions, subjects completed an attachment task based on the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP). Thirty-two AAP picture system presentations depicted attachment-related events (e.g. illness, solitude, separation, and loss), and were each accompanied by four prototypical phrases representing one secure and three insecure attachment categories. In the oxytocin condition, a significant proportion of these insecure subjects (N=18; 69%) increased in their rankings of the AAP prototypical "secure attachment" phrases and decreased in overall ranking of the "insecure attachment" phrases. In particular, there was a significant decrease in the number of subjects ranking the pictures with "insecure-preoccupied" phrases from the placebo to the oxytocin condition. We find that a single dose of intranasally administered oxytocin is sufficient to induce a significant increase in the experience of attachment security in insecurely attached adults.
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“and it increases the subjective experience of attachment security in males with insecure attachment patterns (Buchheim et al. 2009).”
From Natural Selection, Childrearing, and the Ethics of Marriage (and Divorce): Building a Case for the Neuroenhancement of Human Relationships (2012) · cites this paper as Buchheim et al. 2009
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“Recently, a single 24-IU dose of OXT IN was found to be sufficient for inducing a significant increase in perceived attachment security in male adults previously classified as insecure (46).”
From Dissecting the Role of Oxytocin in the Formation and Loss of Social Relationships (2016) · cites this paper as [46]
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“Notably, perception of attachment security was improved after OT administration in healthy male students (Buchheim et al, 2009).”
From Intranasal oxytocin administration dampens amygdala reactivity towards emotional faces in male and female PTSD patients (2016) · cites this paper as Buchheim et al, 2009
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“For example, acute intranasal oxytocin improves self-perceived coping style in humans (Cardoso, Linnen, Joober, & Ellenbogen, 2011) and attachment security in adult males (Buchheim et al., 2009).”
From Acute intranasal oxytocin improves positive self-perceptions of personality (2012) · cites this paper as Buchheim et al., 2009
In the citing paper
“Our findings also extend previous studies showing beneficial effects of a single dose of OT on attachment security [20], development of trust and cooperation [18], and improved communal traits and altered agency [19].”
From Behavioral effects of multiple-dose oxytocin treatment in autism: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial with long-term follow-up (2020) · cites this paper as [20]
In the citing paper
“Later, Buchheim et al. (2009) showed that OT can increase the experience of attachment security”
From Long-term oxytocin administration enhances the experience of attachment (2017) · cites this paper as Buchheim et al. (2009)
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Cites
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“During repeated interactions with a supportive and sensitive caregiver, a child develops a stable cognitive-emotional schema of the caregiver’s availability for reducing stress and providing comfort and protection in potentially threatening situations (Bowlby, 1969).”
Attachment and Loss. Vol. I. Attachment.
Jones, N. B., & Bowlby, J. (1970) · Man · doi:10.2307/2798963 · Cited by 4,208
Oxytocin increases trust in humans
Kosfeld, M., Heinrichs, M., Zak, P. J., Fischbacher, U., & Fehr, E. (2005) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature03701 · Cited by 3,690
Self-citationHeinrichs, M., Baumgartner, T., Kirschbaum, C., & Ehlert, U. (2003) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0006-3223(03)00465-7 · Cited by 2,091
Self-citationThe neurobiology of pair bonding.
Young, L. J., & Wang, Z. (2004) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn1327 · Cited by 1,523 · cited 2×
“…mammals, receptors for the neuropeptide oxytocin are distributed in various brain regions that are associated with the ability to form normal social attachments and affiliation, including parental care, pair bonding, and social memory (Carter, 1998; Uvnas-Moberg, 1998; Young and Wang, 2004).”
The neural correlates of maternal and romantic love
Bartels, A., & Zeki, S. (2004) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2003.11.003 · Cited by 1,497 · cited 1×
“Moreover our results concur with recent findings from neuroimaging studies in healthy humans, demonstrating that looking at pictures of significant others showed marked overlap with regions that show high densities of oxytocin receptors (e.g. striatum) (Bartel and Zeki, 2004).”
Neuroendocrine perspectives on social attachment and love
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Oxytocin improves “mind-reading” in humans
Domes, G., Heinrichs, M., Michel, A., Berger, C., & Herpertz, S. C. (2007) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.07.015 · Cited by 1,298
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Oxytocin and vasopressin in the human brain: social neuropeptides for translational medicine
Meyer-Lindenberg, A., Domes, G., Kirsch, P., & Heinrichs, M. (2011) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn3044 · Cited by 1,688
Self-citationSocial effects of oxytocin in humans: context and person matter
Bartz, J. A., Zaki, J., Bolger, N., & Ochsner, K. N. (2011) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2011.05.002 · Cited by 1,581
The Social Salience Hypothesis of Oxytocin
Shamay-Tsoory, S. G., & Abu-Akel, A. (2016) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.07.020 · Cited by 904
“In addition, studies have shown that inOT enhances the subjective experience of secure attachment in insecure male adults (81), and that individual differences in attachment was predictive of plasma”
Oxytocin, vasopressin, and human social behavior
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Self-citationHostinar, C. E., Sullivan, R. M., & Gunnar, M. R. (2014) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0032671 · Cited by 739
Metadata
- Authors
- Buchheim, A., Heinrichs, M., George, C., Pokorny, D., Koops, E., Henningsen, P., O’Connor, M.-F., & Gündel, H.
- Affiliations
- Universität Innsbruck (AT)
- University of Zurich (CH)
- Mills College (US)
- Technical University of Munich (DE)
- Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Buchheim, Anna
- Venue
- Psychoneuroendocrinology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-10
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1417-1422
- ISSN
- 0306-4530 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3138620
- OpenAlex
- W2166164817
- Cited by
- 277
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 25.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Psychoneuroendocrinology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Research Bank (Australian Catholic University) (submittedVersion)
- FreiDok plus (Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg) (submittedVersion)
- mediaTUM – the media and publications repository of the Technical University Munich (Technical University Munich) (submittedVersion)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
- Funders
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (114788)
- National Institute on Aging (K01AG028404)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
- Keywords
- oxytocin, attachment security, insecure attachment, Adult Attachment Projective Picture System, intranasal oxytocin, emotion regulation, social bonding
- MeSH terms
- Administration, Intranasal, Adult, Humans, Male, Object Attachment, Oxytocin, Perception
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