Oxytocin increases willingness to socially share one's emotions

International Journal of Psychology : Journal International De Psychologie
Anthony LaneMoïra Mikolajczak

Abstract

Oxytocin (OT) is a neuropeptide that is attracting growing attention from researchers interested in human emotional and social behavior. There is indeed increasing evidence that OT has a calming effect and that it facilitates pair-bonding and social interactions. Some of OT's effects are thought to be direct, but it has been suggested that OT also may have indirect effects, mediated by changes in behavior. One potentially relevant behavioral change is an increased propensity for "emotional sharing" as this behavior, like OT, is known to have both calming and bonding effects. In this study, 60 healthy young adult men were randomly assigned to receive either intranasal placebo (PL; n = 30) or oxytocin (OT; n = 30). Participants were then instructed to retrieve a painful memory. Subsequently, OT and placebo participants' willingness to disclose to another person event-related facts (factual sharing) vs. event-related emotions (emotional sharing) was evaluated. Whereas the two groups were equally willing to disclose event-related facts, oxytocin was found to specifically increase the willingness to share event-related emotions. This study provides the first evidence that OT increases people's willingness to share their emotions. Im...Continue Reading

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Citations

Nov 16, 2014·Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience·Katrin PreckelRené Hurlemann
May 10, 2015·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·Lincoln M TracyMelita J Giummarra
Oct 9, 2014·Frontiers in Psychology·Markus QuirinMattie Tops
Jul 11, 2014·Frontiers in Neuroscience·Claudia Lieberwirth, Zuoxin Wang
Aug 27, 2016·The Behavioral and Brain Sciences·James S ChisholmLeslie Atkinson
Mar 2, 2017·Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy·Vojin Rakić
Aug 17, 2020·Journal of Physiological Anthropology·Marina ButovskayaOleg Lazebny
Oct 19, 2017·The International Journal of Eating Disorders·Cindy SchmelkinElizabeth A Lawson
Jul 16, 2014·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·Robyn J McQuaidHymie Anisman

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