The DOI matches its Crossref record; 41 of the 41 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Giving peace a chance: oxytocin increases empathy to pain in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Abstract
Studies have argued that empathy to the pain of out-group members is largely diminished by "in-group empathy bias". Investigating the mechanism underlying the emotional reactions of Jewish Israeli participants toward the pain experienced by Palestinians in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict affords a natural experiment that allows us to examine the role of neurohormones in emotion sensitivity across conflicting social groups. In a double-blind placebo-controlled within-subject crossover design, Israeli Jewish participants were asked to report their empathy to the pain of in-group (Jewish), neutral out-group (European), and adversary out-group (Palestinian) members. Oxytocin remarkably increased empathy to the pain of Palestinians, attenuating the effect of in-group empathy bias observed under the placebo condition. This effect, we argue, is driven by the general role of oxytocin in increasing the salience of social agents which, in turn, may interfere with processes pertaining to derogation of out-group members during intractable conflicts.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
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?
In the citing paper
“two studies using subjective ratings of responses to painful stimuli found that OXT did not have a main effect on pain ratings, but did increase ratings as a function of the perspective (self vs. other) participants were asked to take, or the nationality of the person with whom to empathize (Abu-Akel, Palgi, Klein, Decety & Shamay-Tsoory 2015;Shamay-Tsoory et al., 2013).”
From Oxytocin increases attention to the eyes and selectively enhances self-reported affective empathy for fear (2017) · cites this paper as Shamay-Tsoory et al., 2013
In the citing paper
“Finally, in some studies oxytocin only increases positive perceptions or social motivations toward others (Chang et al., 2012; Shamay-Tsoory et al., 2013) and in other studies it also amplifies pre-existing social motivations or perceptions, whether positive or negative (De Dreu, 2012).”
From Endogenous peripheral oxytocin measures can give insight into the dynamics of social relationships: a review (2014) · cites this paper as Shamay-Tsoory et al., 2013
In the citing paper
“Furthermore, using an in-group vs. out-group paradigm, Shamay-Tsoory et al. (2013) showed that for Israeli Jewish subjects, inhaled oxytocin increased empathy toward potential out-group (Palestinian Arab) members but not to potential in-group members where empathy levels were already high.”
From Endogenous peripheral oxytocin measures can give insight into the dynamics of social relationships: a review (2014) · cites this paper as Shamay-Tsoory et al., 2013
In the citing paper
“A notable exception comes from Shamay-Tsoory et al. (2013) showing that under some circumstances administered oxytocin may alter the valence of out-group perception from negative to more positive.”
From Endogenous peripheral oxytocin measures can give insight into the dynamics of social relationships: a review (2014) · cites this paper as Shamay-Tsoory et al., 2013
In the citing paper
“IN-OT can also enhance empathy in Israeli Jewish participants toward the pain of Palestinians, reducing the effect of in-group empathy bias observed in the placebo (Shamay-Tsoory et al. 2013).”
From A precision medicine approach to oxytocin trials (2017) · cites this paper as Shamay-Tsoory et al. 2013
Citations
Cites
Empathy for Pain Involves the Affective but not Sensory Components of Pain
Singer, T., Seymour, B., O'Doherty, J., Kaube, H., Dolan, R. J., & Frith, C. D. (2004) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1093535 · Cited by 3,929
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
Oxytocin Modulates Neural Circuitry for Social Cognition and Fear in Humans
Kirsch, P., Esslinger, C., Chen, Q., Mier, D., Lis, S., Siddhanti, S., Gruppe, H., Mattay, V. S., Gallhofer, B., & Meyer-Lindenberg, A. (2005) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3984-05.2005 · Cited by 1,639
Social 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 · cited 5×
“…in modulating empathy (Bartz et al., 2010; Hurlemann et al., 2010) and enhancing the saliency of relevant social stimuli (Heinrichs et al., 2009; Bartz et al., 2011), we hypothesize that the influence of OTon empathy to pain can extend beyond the ingroup circle, rather being confined to…”
BackgroundInfluentialSniffing neuropeptides: A transnasal approach to the human brain
Born, J., Lange, T., Kern, W., McGregor, G. P., Bickel, U., & Fehm, H. L. (2002) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn0602-849 · Cited by 1,356
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
How do we perceive the pain of others? A window into the neural processes involved in empathy
Jackson, P. L., Meltzoff, A. N., & Decety, J. (2005) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.09.006 · Cited by 1,257
The Neuropeptide Oxytocin Regulates Parochial Altruism in Intergroup Conflict Among Humans
De Dreu, C. K. W., Greer, L. L., Handgraaf, M. J. J., Shalvi, S., Van Kleef, G. A., Baas, M., Ten Velden, F. S., Van Dijk, E., & Feith, S. W. W. (2010) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1189047 · Cited by 1,148
Shamay-Tsoory, S. G. (2011) · The Neuroscientist · doi:10.1177/1073858410379268 · Cited by 1,059
Self-citationHuman empathy through the lens of social neuroscience.
Decety, J., & Lamm, C. (2006) · The Scientific World JOURNAL · doi:10.1100/tsw.2006.221 · Cited by 1,051 · cited 1×
“Previous human imaging studies focusing on empathy to others’ pain have consistently shown activations in regions also involved in the direct pain experience (Singer et al., 2004; Decety and Lamm, 2006).”
BackgroundDehumanizing the Lowest of the Low: Neuroimaging Responses to Extreme Out-Groups
Harris, L. T., & Fiske, S. T. (2006) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01793.x · Cited by 985
Intranasal oxytocin improves emotion recognition for youth with autism spectrum disorders.
Guastella, A. J., Einfeld, S. L., Gray, K. M., Rinehart, N. J., Tonge, B. J., Lambert, T. J., & Hickie, I. B. (2010) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.09.020 · Cited by 962
The Role of Empathy in Improving Intergroup Relations
Stephan, W. G., & Finlay, K. A. (1999) · Journal of Social Issues · doi:10.1111/0022-4537.00144 · Cited by 891
Oxytocin promotes human ethnocentrism
De Dreu, C. K. W., Greer, L. L., Van Kleef, G. A., Shalvi, S., & Handgraaf, M. J. J. (2011) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1015316108 · Cited by 870 · cited 2×
“This view is based on research documenting its role in regulating parochial altruism (De Dreu et al., 2010) and promoting ethnocentrism (De Dreu et al., 2011).”
BackgroundOxytocin, vasopressin, and human social behavior
Heinrichs, M., von Dawans, B., & Domes, G. (2009) · Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2009.05.005 · Cited by 799
Oxytocin enhances amygdala-dependent, socially reinforced learning and emotional empathy in humans
Hurlemann, R., Patin, A., Onur, O. A., Cohen, M. X., Baumgartner, T., Metzler, S., Dziobek, I., Gallinat, J., Wagner, M., Maier, W., et al. (2010) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.5538-09.2010 · Cited by 771
Leyens, J., Rodriguez‐Perez, A., Rodriguez‐Torres, R., Gaunt, R., Paladino, M., Vaes, J., & Demoulin, S. (2001) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.50 · Cited by 622
Liu, Y., & Wang, Z. X. (2003) · Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/s0306-4522(03)00555-4 · Cited by 580 · cited 2×
“…et al., 2009; Hirosawa et al., 2012), modulates the social relevance of emotional stimuli (Kirsch et al., 2005), interacts with dopamine to regulate socio-affiliative behaviors (Liu and Wang, 2003; Zeki, 2007) and the appropriate assignment of salience to social stimuli (Skuse and Gallagher, 2009).”
BackgroundIntranasal 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 3×
“, 2005) and negative emotions such as envy in competitive situations (Shamay-Tsoory et al., 2009; Hirosawa et al., 2012), modulates the social relevance of emotional stimuli (Kirsch et al.”
BackgroundResultSelf-citationEffects 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×
“Dosage and waiting time corresponded to those previously used in experiments designed to investigate the effect of the intranasal administration of OT on behavior in humans (Kirsch et al., 2005; Kosfeld et al., 2005; Domes et al., 2010; Guastella et al., 2010).”
MethodSOCIETAL BELIEFS IN TIMES OF INTRACTABLE CONFLICT: THE ISRAELI CASE
Bar‐Tal, D. (1998) · International Journal of Conflict Management · doi:10.1108/eb022803 · Cited by 455
Oxytocin selectively improves empathic accuracy
Bartz, J. A., Zaki, J., Bolger, N., Hollander, E., Ludwig, N. N., Kolevzon, A., & Ochsner, K. N. (2010) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797610383439 · Cited by 442
Van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2012) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.07.008 · Cited by 365
Dopaminergic-neuropeptide interactions in the social brain
Skuse, D. H., & Gallagher, L. (2009) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2008.09.007 · Cited by 340
Declerck, C. H., Boone, C., & Kiyonari, T. (2010) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.01.006 · Cited by 331
Pedersen, C. A., Gibson, C. M., Rau, S. W., Salimi, K., Smedley, K. L., Casey, R. L., Leserman, J., Jarskog, L. F., & Penn, D. L. (2011) · Schizophrenia Research · doi:10.1016/j.schres.2011.07.027 · Cited by 305
Zeki, S. (2007) · FEBS Letters · doi:10.1016/j.febslet.2007.03.094 · Cited by 288
The Blame Game: The Effect of Responsibility and Social Stigma on Empathy for Pain
Decety, J., Echols, S., & Correll, J. (2010) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn.2009.21266 · Cited by 265
Social categorization and empathy for outgroup members
Tarrant, M., Dazeley, S., & Cottom, T. (2008) · British Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1348/014466608x373589 · Cited by 231
Halperin, E., Porat, R., Tamir, M., & Gross, J. J. (2012) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797612452572 · Cited by 220
Social context and perceived agency affects empathy for pain: An event-related fMRI investigation
Akitsuki, Y., & Decety, J. (2009) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.04.091 · Cited by 219
Rosenfeld, A. J., Lieberman, J. A., & Jarskog, L. F. (2011) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sbq015 · Cited by 178
(2011) · The MIT Press eBooks · doi:10.7551/mitpress/9780262016612.001.0001 · Cited by 162
Affective reactions to pictures of ingroup and outgroup members
Brown, L. M., Bradley, M. M., & Lang, P. J. (2006) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2005.06.003 · Cited by 151
Oxytocin modulates the racial Bias in neural responses to others' suffering
Sheng, F., Liu, Y., Zhou, B., Zhou, W., & Han, S. (2013) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2012.11.018 · Cited by 139 · cited 1×
“…social endocrinology research, investigating the influence of oxytocin (OT)–—a peptide hormone–—on empathy within the context of inter-group relations, suggests that the effect of OT on empathy is limited to within in-group members (Declerck et al., 2010; De Dreu et al., 2011; Sheng et al., 2013).”
BackgroundPersonality-dependent effects of oxytocin: greater social benefits for high alexithymia scorers
Luminet, O., Grynberg, D., Ruzette, N., & Mikolajczak, M. (2011) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.05.005 · Cited by 107
Exile and return : predicaments of Palestinians and Jews
Lesch, A. M., & Lustick, I. S. (2005) · University of Pennsylvania Press eBooks · Cited by 58
The Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis: Issues and Implications
Batson, C. D. (2011) · The MIT Press eBooks · doi:10.7551/mitpress/9780262016612.003.0003 · Cited by 54
Oxytocin and intergroup relations: Goodwill is not a fixed pie
Chen, F. S., Kumsta, R., & Heinrichs, M. (2011) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1101633108 · Cited by 31
Hirosawa, T., Kikuchi, M., Higashida, H., Okumura, E., Ueno, S., Shitamichi, K., Yoshimura, Y., Munesue, T., Tsubokawa, T., Haruta, Y., et al. (2012) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/srep00384 · Cited by 25
Evaluating self- vs. other-owned objects: The modulatory role of oxytocin
Wu, Y., van Dijk, E., & Zhou, X. (2012) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2012.11.011 · Cited by 12
Flagged first, then by citations
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
“members in the context of the Israeli-Palestininan conflict (35, 67).”
Self-citationDecety, J., Bartal, I. B.-A., Uzefovsky, F., & Knafo-Noam, A. (2016) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0077 · Cited by 740
Cikara, M., Bruneau, E., Bavel, J. J. V., & Saxe, R. R. (2014) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2014.06.007 · Cited by 514
The Neuroscience of Intergroup Relations
Cikara, M., & Bavel, J. J. V. (2014) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691614527464 · Cited by 378
Does Oxytocin Increase Trust in Humans? A Critical Review of Research
Nave, G., Camerer, C., & McCullough, M. (2015) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691615600138 · Cited by 316
Metadata
- Authors
- Shamay-Tsoory, S. G., Abu-Akel, A., Palgi, S., Sulieman, R., Fischer-Shofty, M., Levkovitz, Y., & Decety, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Birmingham (GB)
- University of Haifa (IL)
- Shalvata Mental Health Center (IL)
- Corresponding author
- Abu-Akel, Ahmad
- ORCID
- Abu-Akel, Ahmad
- Venue
- Psychoneuroendocrinology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2013-12
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 3139-3144
- ISSN
- 0306-4530 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2101165690
- Cited by
- 123
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 10
- FWCI
- 15.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychoneuroendocrinology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Binational Science Foundation (BSF)
- John Templeton Foundation
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Keywords
- oxytocin, outgroup derogation, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, intergroup conflict, neurohormones, social salience
- MeSH terms
- Administration, Intranasal, Adult, Analysis of Variance, Double-Blind Method, Empathy, Female, Humans, Israel, Jews, Male, Middle Aged, Oxytocin, Pain, Pain Measurement, Sex Characteristics, Violence, Warfare, Cross-Over Studies, Arabs, 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
