Oxytocin and the Pharmacological Dissection of Affiliation
Abstract
Popularly hailed as the “love hormone,” oxytocin has emerged as a key variable in the regulation of human social cognition and behavior. In particular, research using intranasal oxytocin to pharmacologically manipulate the availability of oxytocin shows that oxytocin augmentation can promote a wide range of affiliative processes; however, evidence also shows null and even antisocial effects. Rather than random error to be eliminated, such variability may offer clues about the mechanisms by which oxytocin modulates human sociality. Three potential mechanisms—anxiety reduction, social salience, and affiliative motivation—are discussed, along with recent work showing how the affiliative-motivation hypothesis can simultaneously account for oxytocin’s pro- and antisocial effects. Appreciating oxytocin’s nuanced social effects is important for advancing our understanding of the neuroscience and psychology of affiliation.
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OT may predominantly influence one's reluctance to engage in closeness or intimacy with others rather than one's fear of being rejected, as interpreted within the affiliative-motivation hypothesis.
“The notion that OT may thus predominantly influence one’s reluctance to engage in closeness or intimacy with others (rather than one’s fear of being rejected) may be interpreted within the framework of the recently proposed affiliative-motivation hypothesis [38]”
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 [38]
The current findings of significant ameliorations in attachment avoidance, but no treatment-specific effects on social responsiveness, are in line with the affiliative-motivation hypothesis and suggest that attachment characteristics may be more sensitive for evaluating treatment responses compared to evaluations based on core autism characteristics alone.
“The current findings of significant ameliorations in attachment avoidance, but no treatment-specific effects on social responsiveness, are in line with this notion and together suggest that attachment characteristics may be more sensitive for evaluating treatment responses, as compared to evaluations based on core autism characteristics alone.”
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 [38]
Oxytocin may primarily exert its effects by increasing affiliative strivings and social motivation.
“providing further support to the notion that OT may primarily exert its effects by increasing affiliative strivings and social motivation as postulated by the affiliative-motivation hypothesis (Bartz, 2016).”
From Long-term oxytocin administration enhances the experience of attachment (2017) · cites this paper as Bartz, 2016
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- Authors
- Bartz, J. A.
- Affiliations
- McGill University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Bartz, Jennifer A.
- ORCID
- Bartz, Jennifer A.
- Venue
- Current Directions in Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2016-04
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 104-110
- ISSN
- 0963-7214 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-8721
- OpenAlex
- W2325328801
- Semantic Scholar
- 3d6e4023f2fdfde9585a3ba444c3db26ee8f8e5b
- Cited by
- 77
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 5
- FWCI
- 28.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Current Directions in Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Sensory Systems › Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- oxytocin, affiliation, social cognition, intranasal oxytocin, pharmacological manipulation, antisocial behavior, anxiety reduction, social salience, sociality
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