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Featured ArticleBrief Communications

Oxytocin Modulates Social Distance between Males and Females

Dirk Scheele, Nadine Striepens, Onur Güntürkün, Sandra Deutschländer, Wolfgang Maier, Keith M. Kendrick and René Hurlemann
Journal of Neuroscience 14 November 2012, 32 (46) 16074-16079; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2755-12.2012
Dirk Scheele
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany,
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Nadine Striepens
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany,
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Onur Güntürkün
2Department of Biopsychology, Ruhr University, 44780 Bochum, Germany,
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Sandra Deutschländer
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany,
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Wolfgang Maier
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany,
4German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, 53175 Bonn, Germany
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Keith M. Kendrick
3Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 610054 Chengdu, P.R. China, and
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René Hurlemann
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany,
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Abstract

In humans, interpersonal romantic attraction and the subsequent development of monogamous pair-bonds is substantially predicted by influential impressions formed during first encounters. The prosocial neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) has been identified as a key facilitator of both interpersonal attraction and the formation of parental attachment. However, whether OXT contributes to the maintenance of monogamous bonds after they have been formed is unclear. In this randomized placebo-controlled trial, we provide the first behavioral evidence that the intranasal administration of OXT stimulates men in a monogamous relationship, but not single ones, to keep a much greater distance (∼10–15 cm) between themselves and an attractive woman during a first encounter. This avoidance of close personal proximity occurred in the physical presence of female but not male experimenters and was independent of gaze direction and whether the female experimenter or the subject was moving. We further confirmed this unexpected finding using a photograph-based approach/avoidance task that showed again that OXT only stimulated men in a monogamous relationship to approach pictures of attractive women more slowly. Importantly, these changes cannot be attributed to OXT altering the attitude of monogamous men toward attractive women or their judgments of and arousal by pictures of them. Together, our results suggest that where OXT release is stimulated during a monogamous relationship, it may additionally promote its maintenance by making men avoid signaling romantic interest to other women through close-approach behavior during social encounters. In this way, OXT may help to promote fidelity within monogamous human relationships.

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The Journal of Neuroscience: 32 (46)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 32, Issue 46
14 Nov 2012
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Oxytocin Modulates Social Distance between Males and Females
Dirk Scheele, Nadine Striepens, Onur Güntürkün, Sandra Deutschländer, Wolfgang Maier, Keith M. Kendrick, René Hurlemann
Journal of Neuroscience 14 November 2012, 32 (46) 16074-16079; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2755-12.2012

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Oxytocin Modulates Social Distance between Males and Females
Dirk Scheele, Nadine Striepens, Onur Güntürkün, Sandra Deutschländer, Wolfgang Maier, Keith M. Kendrick, René Hurlemann
Journal of Neuroscience 14 November 2012, 32 (46) 16074-16079; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2755-12.2012
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