Cited by 870Neuroendocrine regulation and behaviorSocial and Intergroup PsychologyDeath Anxiety and Social Exclusion

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 50 of the 50 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 13 of the 56 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

Oxytocin promotes human ethnocentrism

Open access
De Dreu, Carsten K. W., Greer, Lindred L., Van Kleef, Gerben A., Shalvi, Shaul, Handgraaf, Michel J. J.·2011·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Abstract

Human ethnocentrism—the tendency to view one's group as centrally important and superior to other groups—creates intergroup bias that fuels prejudice, xenophobia, and intergroup violence. Grounded in the idea that ethnocentrism also facilitates within-group trust, cooperation, and coordination, we conjecture that ethnocentrism may be modulated by brain oxytocin, a peptide shown to promote cooperation among in-group members. In double-blind, placebo-controlled designs, males self-administered oxytocin or placebo and privately performed computer-guided tasks to gauge different manifestations of ethnocentric in-group favoritism as well as out-group derogation. Experiments 1 and 2 used the Implicit Association Test to assess in-group favoritism and out-group derogation. Experiment 3 used the infrahumanization task to assess the extent to which humans ascribe secondary, uniquely human emotions to their in-group and to an out-group. Experiments 4 and 5 confronted participants with the option to save the life of a larger collective by sacrificing one individual, nominated as in-group or as out-group. Results show that oxytocin creates intergroup bias because oxytocin motivates in-group favoritism and, to a lesser extent, out-group derogation. These findings call into question the view of oxytocin as an indiscriminate “love drug” or “cuddle chemical” and suggest that oxytocin has a role in the emergence of intergroup conflict and violence.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

In five double-blind, placebo-controlled experiments with Dutch males, intranasal oxytocin increased intergroup bias primarily by promoting in-group favoritism, with limited evidence for out-group derogation. The findings challenge the view of oxytocin as an indiscriminate “love drug” and suggest it may support ethnocentrism and intergroup conflict.

Key findings

  • Oxytocin increased in-group favoritism across implicit and behavioral measures. In experiment 1 (n = 63, Arab out-group), oxytocin increased in-group favoritism, F(1, 61) = 5.51, P < 0.022, and out-group derogation, F(1, 61) = 4.95, P < 0.030; experiment 2 (n = 70, German out-group) replicated in-group favoritism, F(1, 68) = 4.50, P < 0.038, while out-group derogation fell short, F(1, 68) = 3.46, P < 0.067.
  • In experiment 3 (n = 66), oxytocin created intergroup bias on secondary emotions: treatment × target interaction, F(1, 64) = 7.95, P < 0.006, driven by stronger association of secondary emotions with the in-group, F(1, 64) = 4.654, P < 0.035; treatment did not affect out-group secondary-emotion ratings, F(1, 64) = 1.319, P < 0.225.
  • In moral choice dilemmas, oxytocin increased willingness to sacrifice out-group over in-group targets. Experiment 4 (n = 71): target × treatment, F(1, 67) = 12.08, P < 0.001; under oxytocin, out-group targets were sacrificed more than in-group targets, F(1, 68) = 17.27, P < 0.001; placebo was nonsignificant, F(1, 68) = 1.17, P < 0.284; oxytocin reduced in-group sacrifice, F(1, 68) = 4.11, P < 0.047, but did not increase out-group sacrifice, F(1, 68) = 1.37, P < 0.247. Experiment 5 (n = 77) replicated this pattern with German names: target × treatment, F(1, 73) = 9.33, P < 0.003; under oxytocin, out-group > in-group sacrifice, F(1, 74) = 9.33, P < 0.003; placebo nonsignificant, F(1, 74) = 0.16, P < 0.694; oxytocin reduced in-group sacrifice, F(1, 74) = 4.95, P < 0.029, with no out-group effect, F(1, 74) = 1.36, P < 0.248.
  • Across experiments, oxytocin created intergroup bias mainly through in-group favoritism; out-group derogation received limited support, primarily in experiment 1 and less so in experiment 2.

Methods

  • Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled between-subjects designs across five experiments. Indigenous Dutch males self-administered intranasal 24 IU oxytocin or placebo, waited about 40 min, and completed computer-guided tasks in individual cubicles with guaranteed anonymity.
  • Experiments 1 and 2 used the Implicit Association Test with Arab or German out-groups; experiment 3 used an infrahumanization task rating primary and secondary emotions for Dutch versus Muslim targets; experiments 4 and 5 used a Moral Choice Dilemma Task with in-group versus out-group target names (Arab or German) and sacrifice versus control choices.
  • Analyses used ANOVA models; IAT scores were computed to separate in-group favoritism and out-group derogation, with complementary overall bias analyses. The paper reports 280 male participants (M = 21.31 y) recruited overall, with individual experiment n’s of 63, 70, 66, 71, and 77.

Limitations

  • Stated: support for oxytocin-driven out-group derogation was limited and inconsistent; the authors caution that future research should examine oxytocin’s effects on in-group favoritism in the explicit absence of intergroup comparisons.
  • Stated: the findings are based on male participants and two specific natural out-groups (Arab immigrants and Germans), so generalization to other populations and out-groups is not established.
  • Evident from the text: all participants were young indigenous Dutch males, and the intranasal oxytocin dose/timing followed prior protocols; the paper does not test females, other cultures, or long-term effects.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1073/pnas.1015316108

Cites

50 of 50 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

39 tests recomputed · 0 with the reported and recomputed p on opposite sides of .05

Verification

Claims the paper makes

26 Own result · 14 Own interpretation · 11 Not checked yet · 10 Own method · 7 No full text of the sources · 4 Partly supported · 3 Sources not found · 2 Supported · 1 Couldn’t confirm · accuracy not yet measured

Verify all 14 references — free account

Show all 32 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 26
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 28
46 of 46
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The findings from indigenous Dutch male participants generalize to humans generally.

    “Oxytocin promotes human ethnocentrism”
    “Indigenous Dutch males sat in individual cubicles, and were guaranteed anonymity.”
1 of 1

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?

Statistics that don’t add up

Each reported p-value recomputed from its test statistic and degrees of freedom.

2 of 2

Statistics recomputed

Every reported test result, recomputed from its test statistic and degrees of freedom. A result shows as not adding up only once an independent check has confirmed it.

  • Doesn’t add upF(1, 64) = 1.319reported p < .225 · recomputed p = .255

    “F(1, 64) = 1.319, p < .225”

  • Doesn’t add upF(1, 73) = 2.76reported p < .1 · recomputed p = .101

    “F(1, 73) = 2.76, p < .10”

  • Not confirmedF(1, 61) = 5.51reported p < .022 · recomputed p = .022

    “F(1, 61) = 5.51, p < .022”

  • Not confirmedF(1, 68) = 5.08reported p < .027 · recomputed p = .027

    “F(1, 68) = 5.08, p < .027”

  • Not confirmedF(1, 68) = 3.46reported p < .067 · recomputed p = .067

    “F(1, 68) = 3.46, p < .067”

  • Not confirmedF(1, 64) = 7.95reported p < .006 · recomputed p = .006

    “F(1, 64) = 7.95, p < .006”

  • Not confirmedF(1, 67) = 6.78reported p < .011 · recomputed p = .011

    “F(1, 67) = 6.78, p < .011”

  • Not confirmedF(1, 73) = 9.33reported p < .003 · recomputed p = .003

    “F(1, 73) = 9.33, p < .003”

  • Not confirmedF(1, 74) = 9.33reported p < .003 · recomputed p = .003

    “F(1, 74) = 9.33, p < .003”

  • Not confirmedF(1, 74) = 4.95reported p < .029 · recomputed p = .029

    “F(1, 74) = 4.95, p < .029”

  • ConsistentF(1, 61) = 155.61reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “F(1, 61) = 155.61, p < .001”

  • ConsistentF(1, 61) = 6.95reported p < .011 · recomputed p = .011

    “F(1, 61) = 6.95, p < .011”

  • ConsistentF(1, 61) = 4.95reported p < .03 · recomputed p = .030

    “F(1, 61) = 4.95, p < .030”

  • ConsistentF(1, 68) = 323.29reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “F(1, 68) = 323.29, p < .001”

  • ConsistentF(1, 68) = 4.5reported p < .038 · recomputed p = .038

    “F(1, 68) = 4.50, p < .038”

  • ConsistentF(1, 64) < 1.02reported p > .45 · recomputed p = .316

    “F(1, 64) < 1.02, p > .450”

  • ConsistentF(1, 64) < 1reported p > .782 · recomputed p = .321

    “F(1, 64) < 1, p > .782”

  • ConsistentF(1, 64) = 88.44reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “F(1, 64) = 88.44, p < .001”

  • ConsistentF(1, 64) = 135.97reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “F(1, 64) = 135.97, p < .001”

  • ConsistentF(1, 64) = 132.59reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “F(1, 64) = 132.59, p < .001”

  • ConsistentF(1, 64) = 12.92reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “F(1, 64) = 12.92, p < .001”

  • ConsistentF(1, 64) = 340.45reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “F(1, 64) = 340.45, p < .001”

  • ConsistentF(1, 64) = 4.73reported p < .034 · recomputed p = .033

    “F(1, 64) = 4.73, p < .034”

  • ConsistentF(1, 64) = 4.654reported p < .035 · recomputed p = .035

    “F(1, 64) = 4.654, p < .035”

  • ConsistentF(1, 67) = 8.14reported p < .006 · recomputed p = .006

    “F(1, 67) = 8.14, p < .006”

  • ConsistentF(1, 67) = 53.4reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “F(1, 67) = 53.40, p < .001”

  • ConsistentF(1, 67) = 4.8reported p < .032 · recomputed p = .032

    “F(1, 67) = 4.80, p < .032”

  • ConsistentF(1, 67) < 1.98reported p > .17 · recomputed p = .164

    “F(1, 67) < 1.98, p > .17”

  • ConsistentF(1, 67) = 12.08reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “F(1, 67) = 12.08, p < .001”

  • ConsistentF(1, 68) = 17.27reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “F(1, 68) = 17.27, p < .001”

  • ConsistentF(1, 68) = 1.17reported p < .284 · recomputed p = .283

    “F(1, 68) = 1.17, p < .284”

  • ConsistentF(1, 68) = 4.11reported p < .047 · recomputed p = .047

    “F(1, 68) = 4.11, p < .047”

  • ConsistentF(1, 68) = 1.37reported p < .247 · recomputed p = .246

    “F(1, 68) = 1.37, p < .247”

  • ConsistentF(1, 73) = 46.86reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “F(1, 73) = 46.86, p < .001”

  • ConsistentF(1, 73) = 4.43reported p < .039 · recomputed p = .039

    “F(1, 73) = 4.43, p < .039”

  • ConsistentF(1, 73) < 1.39reported p > .21 · recomputed p = .242

    “F(1, 73) < 1.39, p > .21”

  • ConsistentF(1, 74) = 0.16reported p < .694 · recomputed p = .690

    “F(1, 74) = 0.16, p < .694”

  • ConsistentF(1, 74) = 1.36reported p < .248 · recomputed p = .247

    “F(1, 74) = 1.36, p < .248”

  • ConsistentF(1, 68) = 323.29reported p < .0001 · recomputed p < .001

    “F(1, 68) = 323.29, p < .0001”

39 of 39

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Self-check results appear here once an independent check has confirmed them.

Citations

Cites

Show all 48 references

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. C Darwin The Descent of Man (Appleton, New York, 1873).

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Items 801–825 of 825

Metadata

Authors
De Dreu, C. K. W., Greer, L. L., Van Kleef, G. A., Shalvi, S., & Handgraaf, M. J. J.
Affiliations
  • Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • University of Amsterdam (NL)
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2011-01-10
Volume
108
Issue
4
Pages
1262-1266
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
OpenAlex
W2155020127
Cited by
870
References
48
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 44 · 2024: 36 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 53 · 2021: 73 · 2020: 101 · 2019: 47 · 2018: 61 · 2017: 60 · 2016: 63 · 2015: 62 · 2014: 84 · 2013: 65 · 2012: 44
FWCI
27.71
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (publishedVersion)
  • UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion)
  • University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
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, ethnocentrism, intergroup bias, in-group favoritism, outgroup derogation, prejudice, xenophobia, infrahumanization, cooperation, Implicit Association Test, collective sacrifice, intergroup conflict, intergroup violence
MeSH terms
Choice Behavior, Cooperative Behavior, Double-Blind Method, Emotions, Humans, Male, Oxytocin, Social Behavior, Task Performance and Analysis, Codependency, 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.

A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-11-10, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).

A second model labelled each claim on 2026-11-10 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).

Cited sources are checked with a language model’s help (gpt-6-sol).

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