Publication Date:
2010-06-12
Description:
Humans regulate intergroup conflict through parochial altruism; they self-sacrifice to contribute to in-group welfare and to aggress against competing out-groups. Parochial altruism has distinct survival functions, and the brain may have evolved to sustain and promote in-group cohesion and effectiveness and to ward off threatening out-groups. Here, we have linked oxytocin, a neuropeptide produced in the hypothalamus, to the regulation of intergroup conflict. In three experiments using double-blind placebo-controlled designs, male participants self-administered oxytocin or placebo and made decisions with financial consequences to themselves, their in-group, and a competing out-group. Results showed that oxytocin drives a "tend and defend" response in that it promoted in-group trust and cooperation, and defensive, but not offensive, aggression toward competing out-groups.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉De Dreu, Carsten K W -- Greer, Lindred L -- Handgraaf, Michel J J -- Shalvi, Shaul -- Van Kleef, Gerben A -- Baas, Matthijs -- Ten Velden, Femke S -- Van Dijk, Eric -- Feith, Sander W W -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2010 Jun 11;328(5984):1408-11. doi: 10.1126/science.1189047.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Roetersstraat 15, 1018 WB Amsterdam, Netherlands. c.k.w.dedreu@uva.nl〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20538951" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Aggression/*drug effects
;
*Altruism
;
*Conflict (Psychology)
;
Cooperative Behavior
;
Decision Making
;
Double-Blind Method
;
Game Theory
;
*Group Processes
;
Humans
;
Interpersonal Relations
;
Male
;
Oxytocin/administration & dosage/*pharmacology
;
Trust
;
Young Adult
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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