Only under certain circumstances such as when a task is demanding for the individual performing it.
21% of studies reported oxytocin had negative effects on prosociality and these effects seemed to be mediated by situational factors and individual differences.
Overall, 43% of research reviewed indicated no main effect of oxytocin, 63% reported situational and/or individual difference moderators. The effect of oxytocin is mediated by situational and/or individual differences
• Three possible mechanisms how oxytocin mediates output behaviors: o Anxiety reduction: oxytocin reduces social anxiety. This explains increased trust/social approach, but doesn’t apply to effects on social cognition (such as memory for faces) o Affiliative motivation: …show more content…
The authors think this is most likely since this hypothesis can explain why situational factors matter depending on the specific social cues people are attuned to, account for both socially desirable and undesirable effects, and also accord with individual differences (oxytocin works only for those who are less attuned to social cues at baseline)
• No input argument, targeted to exogenous administrated oxytocin
• Oxytocin is theorized to produce various “social behaviors” but without any functional/ultimate explanations; doesn’t argue why oxytocin promotes and coordinates social cognition and prosociality
• By virtue of its approach focusing on the proximate mechanisms, it doesn’t address why oxytocin is used as a functional signal o Maybe the social salience hypothesis can be interpreted as that oxytocin helps efficiently encoding inputs (“social cues”, not functionally specified) into coordinated outputs (appropriate “social behaviors” in the context; e.g., gazing at eyes and reading emotions when faces are salient, increase cooperation and its related emotions towards trustworthy individuals but decrease towards untrustworthy individuals and out-group members) (although it is unclear what kind of inputs regulate oxytocin production
21% of studies reported oxytocin had negative effects on prosociality and these effects seemed to be mediated by situational factors and individual differences.
Overall, 43% of research reviewed indicated no main effect of oxytocin, 63% reported situational and/or individual difference moderators. The effect of oxytocin is mediated by situational and/or individual differences
• Three possible mechanisms how oxytocin mediates output behaviors: o Anxiety reduction: oxytocin reduces social anxiety. This explains increased trust/social approach, but doesn’t apply to effects on social cognition (such as memory for faces) o Affiliative motivation: …show more content…
The authors think this is most likely since this hypothesis can explain why situational factors matter depending on the specific social cues people are attuned to, account for both socially desirable and undesirable effects, and also accord with individual differences (oxytocin works only for those who are less attuned to social cues at baseline)
• No input argument, targeted to exogenous administrated oxytocin
• Oxytocin is theorized to produce various “social behaviors” but without any functional/ultimate explanations; doesn’t argue why oxytocin promotes and coordinates social cognition and prosociality
• By virtue of its approach focusing on the proximate mechanisms, it doesn’t address why oxytocin is used as a functional signal o Maybe the social salience hypothesis can be interpreted as that oxytocin helps efficiently encoding inputs (“social cues”, not functionally specified) into coordinated outputs (appropriate “social behaviors” in the context; e.g., gazing at eyes and reading emotions when faces are salient, increase cooperation and its related emotions towards trustworthy individuals but decrease towards untrustworthy individuals and out-group members) (although it is unclear what kind of inputs regulate oxytocin production