The DOI matches its Crossref record; 47 of the 48 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Oxytocin indexes relational distress following interpersonal harms in women
Open accessAbstract
The hypothalamic neuropeptide oxytocin, known for its involvement in social affiliation and bonding in animals, has recently been associated with a host of prosocial behaviors that are beneficial for maintaining positive social relationships in humans. Paradoxically, however, people with high endogenous levels of oxytocin also tend to report relational distress and interpersonal difficulties in their everyday lives. To address these contradictory findings, oxytocin reactivity was measured in response to a well-defined laboratory task in young adult women following recent interpersonal harms. Elevated mean peripheral oxytocin reactivity (but not baseline levels of oxytocin or cortisol reactivity) was associated with increased post-conflict anxiety and decreased levels of forgiveness. These results corroborate previous research implicating oxytocin as a neuroendocrine marker of relational distress, but not general stress, and demonstrate the utility of studying oxytocin in response to naturally occurring relational events.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“However, findings regarding peripheral OT are mixed. Whereas some found links between plasma OT and positive communication, affiliation, and emotional support (Gonzaga et al., 2006; Grewen et al., 2005; Holt-Lunstad et al., 2008), others showed associations with negative emotions, anxiety, and distress in romantic couples (Marazziti et al., 2006; Tabak et al., 2010; Taylor et al., 2010).”
From Oxytocin during the initial stages of romantic attachment: Relations to couples’ interactive reciprocity (2012) · cites this paper as Tabak et al., 2010
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“One recent study found that women whose oxytocin levels spiked after a hurtful relationship experience had greater anxiety and were less forgiving of the slight compared to women who had lower levels of the hormone (Tabak et al. 2011).”
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 Tabak et al. 2011
In the citing paper
“For example, there are some reports that in women, peripheral OT reactivity serves as a marker of relational distress (Tabak et al., 2011), and it has been suggested that these high OT levels in conjunction with positive affiliative contact may serve to motivate approach behavior to seek new friendships and reinstate normal social functioning after conflicts (Bartz and Hollander, 2006;Taylor, 2006”
From The effect of oxytocin on cooperation in a prisoner's dilemma depends on the social context and a person's social value orientation (2014) · cites this paper as Tabak et al., 2011
In the citing paper
“As such, the tend and befriend model has been proposed (74,75), which states that gaps in positive social relationships are accompanied by elevations in OXT and that these increased OXT levels prompt affiliative efforts aimed at restoring positive social contact.”
From Dissecting the Role of Oxytocin in the Formation and Loss of Social Relationships (2016) · cites this paper as [75]
In the citing paper
“Studies imply this role is influenced by an individual’s previous experiences and difficulties in interpersonal relationships (Tabak et al., 2011): difficulties in relationships with primary partner (Taylor et al., 2006), or own infant (i.e. interactive stress) (Feldman et al., 2011), or romantic partner (Marazziti et al., 2006).”
From Approaching the biology of human parental attachment: Brain imaging, oxytocin and coordinated assessments of mothers and fathers (2014) · cites this paper as Tabak et al., 2011
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
The satisfaction with life scale
Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985) · Journal of Personality Assessment · doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13 · Cited by 31,768
Kirschbaum, C., Pirke, K.-M., & Hellhammer, D. H. (2008) · Neuropsychobiology · doi:10.1159/000119004 · Cited by 6,093
Dickerson, S. S., & Kemeny, M. E. (2004) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.355 · Cited by 5,881
The Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: concurrent and discriminant validity evidence
Russell, D., Peplau, L. A., & Cutrona, C. E. (1980) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.39.3.472 · Cited by 5,173
Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness.
Aron, A., Aron, E. N., & Smollan, D. (1992) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.63.4.596 · Cited by 5,157
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
Biobehavioral responses to stress in females: Tend-and-befriend, not fight-or-flight.
Taylor, S. E., Klein, L. C., Lewis, B. P., Gruenewald, T. L., Gurung, R. A. R., & Updegraff, J. A. (2000) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.107.3.411 · Cited by 3,308
The oxytocin receptor system: structure, function, and regulation
Gimpl, G., & Fahrenholz, F. (2001) · Physiological Reviews · doi:10.1152/physrev.2001.81.2.629 · Cited by 3,089
A Rating Formulation for Ordered Response Categories
Andrich, D. (1978) · Psychometrika · doi:10.1007/bf02293814 · Cited by 2,984
Heinrichs, M., Baumgartner, T., Kirschbaum, C., & Ehlert, U. (2003) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0006-3223(03)00465-7 · Cited by 2,091
Daily Well-Being: The Role of Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness
Reis, H. T., Sheldon, K. M., Gable, S. L., Roscoe, J., & Ryan, R. M. (2000) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167200266002 · Cited by 2,067
Interpersonal forgiving in close relationships.
McCullough, M. E., Jr. Worthington Everett, L., & Rachal, K. C. (1997) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.73.2.321 · Cited by 1,666
Self-citationInterpersonal forgiving in close relationships: II: Theoretical elaboration and measurement
McCullough, M. E., Rachal, K. C., Sandage, S. J., Worthington, E. L., Brown, S. W., & Hight, T. L. (1998) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.75.6.1586 · Cited by 1,435
Self-citationOxytocin shapes the neural circuitry of trust and trust adaptation in humans
Baumgartner, T., Heinrichs, M., Vonlanthen, A., Fischbacher, U., & Fehr, E. (2008) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2008.04.009 · Cited by 1,258
Effects of daily stress on negative mood.
Bolger, N. P., DeLongis, A., Kessler, R. C., & Schilling, E. A. (1989) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.57.5.808 · Cited by 1,120
Ditzen, B., Schaer, M., Gabriel, B., Bodenmann, G., Ehlert, U., & Heinrichs, M. (2009) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.10.011 · Cited by 805 · cited 1×
“, 2005) and constructive communication between romantic partners discussing conflictual issues (Ditzen et al., 2009)–—perhaps in part by inhibiting neural systems associated with fear (Baumgartner et al.”
BackgroundOxytocin attenuates amygdala responses to emotional faces regardless of valence
Domes, G., Heinrichs, M., Gläscher, J., Büchel, C., Braus, D. F., & Herpertz, S. C. (2007) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.03.025 · Cited by 774 · cited 1×
“In contrast to previous studies associating oxytocin administration and attenuated amygdala activity in men (Baumgartner et al., 2008; Domes et al., 2007; Petrovic et al., 2008), Domes et al.”
ResultTend and Befriend: Biobehavioral Bases of Affiliation Under Stress
Taylor, S. E. (2006) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2006.00451.x · Cited by 755
McCullough, M. E., Fincham, F. D., & Tsang, J.-A. C. (2003) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.3.540 · Cited by 742
Self-citationPsychometric and Geometric Characteristics of the Revised Interpersonal Adjective Scales (IAS-R)
Wiggins, J. S., Trapnell, P. D., & Phillips, N. (1988) · Multivariate Behavioral Research · doi:10.1207/s15327906mbr2304_8 · Cited by 613
Granting Forgiveness or Harboring Grudges: Implications for Emotion, Physiology, and Health
Witvliet, C. V., Ludwig, T. E., & Laan, K. L. V. (2001) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00320 · Cited by 599
Intranasal Administration of Oxytocin Increases Envy and Schadenfreude (Gloating)
Shamay-Tsoory, S. G., Fischer, M., Dvash, J., Harari, H., Perach-Bloom, N., & Levkovitz, Y. (2009) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.06.009 · Cited by 542 · cited 1×
“, 2005), oxytocin administration has recently been associated with increased envy and gloating (Shamay-Tsoory et al., 2009), decreased cooperation in an economic game with no prior social contact with potential game partners (Declerck et al.”
BackgroundDitzen, B., Neumann, I. D., Bodenmann, G., von Dawans, B., Turner, R. A., Ehlert, U., & Heinrichs, M. (2007) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2007.03.011 · Cited by 525
Effects of intranasal oxytocin on emotional face processing in women
Domes, G., Lischke, A., Berger, C., Grossmann, A., Hauenstein, K., Heinrichs, M., & Herpertz, S. C. (2010) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.06.016 · Cited by 521 · cited 1×
“, 2010), and enhanced neural activation for both positive and negatively valenced emotional stimuli in women (Domes et al., 2010).”
BackgroundLight, K. C., Grewen, K. M., & Amico, J. A. (2005) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2004.11.002 · Cited by 470
Writing about the benefits of an interpersonal transgression facilitates forgiveness.
McCullough, M. E., Root, L. M., & Cohen, A. D. (2006) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.74.5.887 · Cited by 434
Self-citationOxytocin Attenuates Affective Evaluations of Conditioned Faces and Amygdala Activity
Petrovic, P., Kalisch, R., Singer, T., & Dolan, R. J. (2008) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.4572-07.2008 · Cited by 424 · cited 1×
“In contrast to previous studies associating oxytocin administration and attenuated amygdala activity in men (Baumgartner et al., 2008; Domes et al., 2007; Petrovic et al., 2008), Domes et al.”
ResultMcCullough, M. E., & Hoyt, W. T. (2002) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/014616702237583 · Cited by 367
Self-citationRumination, emotion, and forgiveness: Three longitudinal studies.
McCullough, M. E., Bono, G., & Root, L. M. (2007) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.92.3.490 · Cited by 362
Self-citationFinch, J. F., Okun, M. A., Pool, G. J., & Ruehlman, L. S. (1999) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/1467-6494.00066 · Cited by 347
Forgiveness, Feeling Connected to Others, and Well-Being: Two Longitudinal Studies
Bono, G., McCullough, M. E., & Root, L. M. (2007) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167207310025 · Cited by 342
Self-citationDeclerck, C. H., Boone, C., & Kiyonari, T. (2010) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.01.006 · Cited by 331
A. Bartz, J., & Hollander, E. (2006) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2006.06.018 · Cited by 311
Turner, R. A., Altemus, M., Enos, T., Cooper, B., & McGuinness, T. (1999) · Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/00332747.1999.11024859 · Cited by 298
A Change of Heart: Cardiovascular Correlates of Forgiveness in Response to Interpersonal Conflict
Lawler, K., Younger, J., Piferi, R. L., Billington, E. J., Jobe, R. L., Edmondson, K. A., & Jones, W. H. (2003) · Journal of behavioral medicine · doi:10.1023/a:1025771716686 · Cited by 277
Taylor, S. E., Gonzaga, G. C., Klein, L. C., Hu, P., Greendale, G. A., & Seeman, T. E. (2006) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/01.psy.0000203242.95990.74 · Cited by 275
Taylor, S. E., Saphire-Bernstein, S., & Seeman, T. E. (2010) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797609356507 · Cited by 256
Evidence of dysregulated peripheral oxytocin release among depressed women
Cyranowski, J. M., Hofkens, T. L., Frank, E., Seltman, H., Cai, H.-M., & Amico, J. A. (2008) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/psy.0b013e318188ade4 · Cited by 220
Uses of Rasch modeling in counseling psychology research.
Fox, C. M., & Jones, J. (1998) · Journal of Counseling Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-0167.45.1.30 · Cited by 216
Social Support and Psychological Well-Being in Young Adults: The Multi-Dimensional Support Scale
Winefield, H. R., Winefield, A. H., & Tiggemann, M. (1992) · Journal of Personality Assessment · doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa5801_17 · Cited by 196
McCullough, M. E., Luna, L. M. R., Berry, J. W., Tabak, B. A., & Bono, G. (2010) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/a0019349 · Cited by 160
Self-citationBauer, S., Golkaramnay, V., & Kordy, H. (2004) · Psychotherapeut · doi:10.1007/s00278-004-0403-0 · Cited by 144
Rumination, fear, and cortisol: An in vivo study of interpersonal transgressions.
McCullough, M. E., Orsulak, P. J., Brandon, A. R., & Akers, L. (2007) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.26.1.126 · Cited by 144
Self-citationA relationship between oxytocin and anxiety of romantic attachment
Marazziti (2006) · Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health · doi:10.1186/1745-0179-2-28 · Cited by 124
AMICO, J. A., ULBRECHT, J. S., & ROBINSON, A. G. (1987) · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jcem-64-2-340 · Cited by 105
Experimental effects of rumination styles on salivary cortisol responses
Denson, T. F., Fabiansson, E. C., Creswell, J. D., & Pedersen, W. C. (2008) · Motivation and Emotion · doi:10.1007/s11031-008-9114-0 · Cited by 51
One Hormonal System for Love and Envy: A Reply to Tops
Shamay‐Tsoory, S. (2009) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.09.002 · Cited by 9
Cited by
Sorted by citations
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
“A growing list of studies have further demonstrated that OT can induce antisocial effects including aggression (14, 16) and that high levels of endogenous OT are associated with relational distress and interpersonal difficulties (17, 18).”
Oxytocin and social affiliation in humans
Feldman, R. (2012) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2012.01.008 · Cited by 767
Problems with measuring peripheral oxytocin: can the data on oxytocin and human behavior be trusted?
McCullough, M. E., Churchland, P. S., & Mendez, A. J. (2013) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.04.018 · Cited by 416
Evaluation of enzyme immunoassay and radioimmunoassay methods for the measurement of plasma oxytocin
Szeto, A., McCabe, P. M., Nation, D. A., Tabak, B. A., Rossetti, M. A., McCullough, M. E., Schneiderman, N., & Mendez, A. J. (2011) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/psy.0b013e31821df0c2 · Cited by 330
Self-citationSchneiderman, I., Zagoory-Sharon, O., Leckman, J. F., & Feldman, R. (2012) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.12.021 · Cited by 333
“, 2008), others showed associations with negative emotions, anxiety, and distress in romantic couples (Marazziti et al., 2006; Tabak et al., 2010; Taylor et al., 2010).”
Metadata
- Authors
- Tabak, B. A., McCullough, M. E., Szeto, A., Mendez, A. J., & McCabe, P. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Miami (US)
- Corresponding author
- McCullough, Michael E.
- Venue
- Psychoneuroendocrinology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2011-01
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 115-122
- ISSN
- 0306-4530 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2997882
- OpenAlex
- W2048786916
- Cited by
- 116
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 9.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Psychoneuroendocrinology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH071258)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Forgiveness and Related Behaviors
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Keywords
- oxytocin, relational distress, interpersonal harm, forgiveness, cortisol response, women, social bonding, neuroendocrine markers, interpersonal conflict
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Affect, Anxiety, Conflict, Psychological, Diagnostic Techniques, Endocrine, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Object Attachment, Oxytocin, Research Design, Stress, Psychological, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
