Title |
Oxytocin increases liking for a country's people and national flag but not for other cultural symbols or consumer products
|
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Published in |
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, August 2014
|
DOI | 10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00266 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Xiaole Ma, Lizhu Luo, Yayuan Geng, Weihua Zhao, Qiong Zhang, Keith M. Kendrick |
Abstract |
The neuropeptide oxytocin enhances in-group favoritism and ethnocentrism in males. However, whether such effects also occur in women and extend to national symbols and companies/consumer products is unclear. In a between-subject, double-blind placebo controlled experiment we have investigated the effect of intranasal oxytocin on likeability and arousal ratings given by 51 adult Chinese males and females for pictures depicting people or national symbols/consumer products from both strong and weak in-groups (China and Taiwan) and corresponding out-groups (Japan and South Korea). To assess duration of treatment effects subjects were also re-tested after 1 week. Results showed that although oxytocin selectively increased the bias for overall liking for Chinese social stimuli and the national flag, it had no effect on the similar bias toward other Chinese cultural symbols, companies, and consumer products. This enhanced bias was maintained 1 week after treatment. No overall oxytocin effects were found for Taiwanese, Japanese, or South Korean pictures. Our findings show for the first time that oxytocin increases liking for a nation's society and flag in both men and women, but not that for other cultural symbols or companies/consumer products. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 5 | 18% |
United States | 2 | 7% |
Japan | 2 | 7% |
Australia | 1 | 4% |
Canada | 1 | 4% |
Kyrgyzstan | 1 | 4% |
Netherlands | 1 | 4% |
Belgium | 1 | 4% |
Unknown | 14 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 20 | 71% |
Scientists | 6 | 21% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 4% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 4% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Hungary | 1 | 2% |
Canada | 1 | 2% |
Unknown | 49 | 96% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Master | 13 | 25% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 11 | 22% |
Student > Bachelor | 9 | 18% |
Researcher | 5 | 10% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 2 | 4% |
Other | 6 | 12% |
Unknown | 5 | 10% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 22 | 43% |
Neuroscience | 6 | 12% |
Social Sciences | 4 | 8% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 4 | 8% |
Business, Management and Accounting | 3 | 6% |
Other | 7 | 14% |
Unknown | 5 | 10% |