title: A human tendency to anthropomorphize is enhanced by oxytocin.
abstract: In the course of human evolution, the brain has evolved into a highly sensitive detector of social signals. As a consequence of this socially driven adaptation, humans display a tendency to anthropomorphize, that is they attribute social meaning to non-social agents. The evolutionarily highly conserved hypothalamic peptide oxytocin (OXT) has been identified as a key factor attaching salience to socially relevant cues, but whether it contributes to spontaneous anthropomorphism is still elusive. In the present study involving 60 healthy female participants, we measured salivary OXT concentrations and explored the effect of a single intranasal dose of synthetic OXT (24 IU) or placebo (PLC) on anthropomorphic tendencies during participants׳ verbal descriptions of short video clips depicting socially and non-socially moving geometric shapes. Our results show that endogenous OXT concentrations at baseline positively correlated with the attribution of animacy to social stimuli. While intranasal OXT had no modulatory effect on arousal ratings and did not make the participants more talkative, the treatment boosted anthropomorphic descriptions specifically for social stimuli. In conclusion, we here provide first evidence indicating that spontaneous anthropomorphism in women is facilitated by oxytocin, thereby enabling a context-specific upregulation of the propensity to anthropomorphize environmental cues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany; Division of Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany. Electronic address: Dirk-Scheele@gmx.de.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scheele
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany; Division of Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schwering
authors.affiliation: Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Jed T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Elison
authors.affiliation: Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Spunt
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany; German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), 53175 Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany; Division of Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany. Electronic address: renehurlemann@icloud.com.
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hurlemann
mesh_terms: D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000187:drug effects*; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000378:metabolism; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000378:metabolism; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D012938:Social Perception; D013850:Thinking / Q000187:drug effects*; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D010121:Oxytocin
keywords: Agency; Anthropomorphism; Oxytocin; Social cognition