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Oxytocin and Trust: An Analytical Research Paper

Harikrishnan Mamparambath
High School Student, Indus International School, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
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Introduction:

This paper aims to amalgamate and simplify the various studies that either correlate the effects
of oxytocin to either enhancing or blunting trust. Additionally, this paper analyzes each of the
studies and derives an appropriate conclusion, considering the generalizability, validity and
other confounding factors while being unbiased. The purpose of this paper is to observe and
verify the implications and possibilities of using oxytocin, in the field of psychiatry.

Oxytocin is said to enhance trust in various scenarios and thereby aid in prosocial
interactions.However, addressing a hormone and trying to correlate it to behavioural traits is an
arduous and doubt-filled path. Certain studies indicate the positive correlation of oxytocin and
trust. Berends, Youri R. et al. (2019) studied the effects of oxytocin, vasopressin and trust and
their effects on aggressive young males. The study found a significant correlation between
oxytocin and trust in terms of how low levels of trust combined with low levels of oxytocin, led to
aggressive behaviour. However, this study takes an approach where this Quasi experiment
consists of trust being a variant along with oxytocin and vasopressin.1
When we look at other research that suggests oxytocin as being a neuropeptide that is
associated with increased attachment and affiliation. Venta, Amanda et al. (2017) wanted to
examine the effect of intranasal oxytocin on attachment and non-attachment-related trust in an
interactive game. Significant results were only obtained in trust game behaviour of adolescents
when attachment security was moderate or low. At these levels, oxytocin increased the trust of
patients, contradictory to this, oxytocin reduced investments in the healthy control subjects.
These results indicate that oxytocin may have a trust-enhancing effect only on certain groups.2

On the other hand, Kret, Mariska E., and Carsten K. W. De Dreu et al. (2017) also discusses
oxytocin and its subjectivity to a specific group. This study also incorporated the dilation of
pupils because of its significant signalling function. Using incentivised trust games, the study
revealed that male participants withheld trust from partners who had constricting pupils, while
it was vice versa for partners with dilating pupils especially when oxytocin was administered
rather than placebo. This was a similar case for females, however, this effect blunted under
oxytocin. Pupil dilation mimicry is blunted under oxytocin and pupil constriction mimicry is
stronger. Moreover, the link between pupil constriction mimicry and distrust that is observed
under the administration of placebo disappears under oxytocin.3
Similarly, a 2*2 experimental design used in Verhees, Martine W.F.T. et al. (2020) took a group
of 100 children aged between 8-12 and were randomly assigned to either a cognitive
modification bias (CBM) training condition or a placebo training. Each of the conditions were
further split into halves which were either administered oxytocin or a placebo. The interaction
effects were measured through trust-related interpretation bias and trust. The results indicated
children in the CBM training were effective on its own, oxytocin did not enhance the effects of
CBM or independently exert any effects.4

Correlation of the enhancing effects of Oxytocin on trust

Berends, Youri R. et al. (2019) used a Quasi experimental design to correlate the effects of
oxytocin and vasopressin on trust and aggressive behaviour. Once the urinary sample was taken
from 62 healthy males (age: 18-26) it was compared with trait measures of trust and aggressive
behaviour. As the figure below shows, there was a significant correlation of oxytocin and trust
on aggression, ie. low trait measures of trust, along with low levels of oxytocin linked up to a
history of aggressive behaviour.

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031938418310576

This triangulates previous studies and papers that support the affiliation of oxytocin and
vasopressin in aggression. C.F, Ferris indicates that vasopressin/oxytocin as chemical signals in
the brain alter aggressive response in his studies.5
Even (MacLean, Evan L. et al. 2017) supports this further by proving certain mammalian
species like dogs with a history of aggression had higher vasopressin while dogs who were bred
for non-aggressive temperaments had higher free and total plasma oxytocin.6
Science there are other studies that triangulate this study and since the sample size was
allocated the data collected could be reliable. Then again, every quasi experiment comes with
the repercussion of cause-and-effect inferences that cannot be made because of the lack of
assurance of the equivalence of comparison groups at the start of the study(pre-existing
confounding variables could be present). Moreover, generalizability is restricted since only a
specific age group of healthy men were taken into consideration.

Venta, Amanda et al. (2017) had the objective of examining the effect of intranasal oxytocin on
attachment-related and non-attachment related trust in a game. Trust was assessed using trust
games that were inspired from game models used by Unoka et al. (2009) and Kosfeld et al.
(2005). A repeated measure design with counterbalancing was used in order to increase the
accuracy of the results obtained. Additionally, a very diverse sample set was used to increase
generalizability (n= 122, ages 12-17; ninpatient= 75, 70% female, 37% Black, 24% Hispanic, 20%
White, and 20% multiracial;nhealthy(control)= 46, 55% female, 75% Caucasian).

The trust game did not require direct feedback from the partner, and hence made it feasible for
inpatient conditions. The moderation of attachment was done through the inclusion of a
condition that consists of their mother as the partner or a stranger. The subjects were briefed in
a way where they were told that the game consists of five rounds, where the subject will receive
twelve dollars out of which he/she will decide how much they want to send to their partner.
During the transaction of that amount, the partner will get triple the amount. Out of which the
partner can decide how much they want to keep and how much they want to send back. The
objective of the game was to have as much money as possible. Two games would be played, one
with the subject’s mother and the other with a stranger, in a randomized order.
A limitation in this part of the experiment was that the amount that the partner could hold or
send back was completely dependent on their subjective choices. However, this limitation can be
overruled by the fact that a substantially large sample set was used.

The results obtained indicate that oxytocin raised the level of trust behaviour in the patient
sample to the level of the healthy controls. Even though the study suggested a broad effect of
oxytocin on trust, the effects were mostly moderated and the experiment itself lacked a certain
amount of ecological validity. It was also noted that the oxytocin had the most significant effect
in the non-attachment related trust game, which was consistent with the hypothesis that pre-
existing relationships would attenuate the effects of oxytocin. Oxytocin significantly increased
the investments of inpatient adolescents.
 Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6167185/

An obvious explanation to the findings could be that a significant effect was seen in the inpatient
group because the group has clinical need. This reason triangulates with pre-existing studies
which suggests the effects of oxytocin as a source of mitigating an impairment, such as
decreasing anxiety following stress (Heinrichs, Baumgartner, Kirschbaum, & Ehlert, 2003) or
improving emotion recognition impairments (Averbeck, Bobin, Evans, & Shergill, 2012).
Some areas of this study is also paradoxical to studies that are in contrast to the result of prior
research indicating that oxytocin increased investments made by healthy adults in a trust game
played with an anonymous partner (Kosfeld et al,, 2005). This shows the lack of repeatability in
studies related to oxytocin.
There were certain limitations also in terms of how the sample size wasn’t enough for a 2*2
experimental design, which could have led to the inflation of the effects of oxytocin.

Correlation of the varying effects of Oxytocin on trust

Kret, Mariska E., and Carsten K. W. De Dreu (2017) wanted to observe how pupil-mimicry
conditions trust in partners and if it could be moderated by oxytocin and group membership
through a double-blind randomized cross-over. The method used allows for an effective
establishment of the correlation while increasing the internal validity. A similar trust game that
was used in Venta, Amanda et al. (2017) was incorporated into this study as well, with certain
modifications. Participants(n=59, Age: 22, 28 males, 31 females, Dutch) received oxytocin or
placebo and made investment decisions in incentivized trust games with different virtual ingroup
or outgroup partners. Each game the subject could choose to invest €0, €2, €4 or €6, with the
knowledge that their investments would be tripled by the time it reaches their partners and that
by the end of the experiment, their earnings would be paid in the form of a bonus. Prior to
making a decision, each participant viewed a 1500ms clip of their partner’s eye in which the
pupils dilated, constricted or stayed constant. The partners were actually actors who were either
Dutch(ingroup) or Japanese(outgroup).
The procedure only consisted of participants which were from a small demographic, hence the
generalizability is reduced to a great extent, even though both males and females were observed.
However, a lot of confounding factors were kept in check to increase internal validity. The
participants did not have a psychiatric history, smoked less than five cigarettes per day and did
not report drug and alcohol abuse, and were constricted from drinking anything except water
for 2 hours before the experiment. Additionally, in order to avoid any subjective effects, other
than caused by oxytocin, the placebo contained all the active ingredients except for the
neuropeptide.

Source:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5360920/

The results indicate that the effects of partner pupil and group showed that when partners had
dilating pupils, the ones from the ingroup were trusted more than the partners who had a
constant or constricting pupils and partners from the outgroup. Participants who self-
administered oxytocin invested less in their partners with constricting pupils than participants
who were administered placebo as seen in the above figure. These results were paradoxical to
the results observed in females, wherein females trusted partners with dilating pupils less under
the effect of oxytocin rather than placebo. The effects of the independent variable were neutral
when the pupils were static. Another key finding was that oxytocin weakened pupil dilation
mimicry(dilation of the participant’s pupil when he/she sees that the partner’s pupils are
dilated) and had an opposite effect on pupil constriction mimicry(initial dilation and latter
constriction when the participant is shown to have constricting pupils) as shown in the figure
below.
 Source:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5360920/

Among participants who were given placebo, more constriction memory was associated with
lower trust, while under oxytocin this correlation was absent. On the other hand, pupil dilation
mimicry increased partner-pupil trust within ingroup partners but not in interactions with
outgroup partners, while neither oxytocin nor placebo modulated this general tendency.

Lack of correlation in terms of the effects of Oxytocin on trust

Verhees, Martine W.F.T. et al. (2020) aimed to assess the effects of cognitive bias modification
(CBM- is when the participant is asked to repeatedly perform a series of computerized tasks
designed to reduce the impact of automatic processes that lead to harmful behaviour)7 and
oxytocin on trust in maternal support with children as participants(n=100, 8-12 years).

The research used random sampling and an independent measure design to assign the
participants into either a condition inclusive of CBM training aimed at increasing trust or
neutral placebo training. Within each of these conditions, the groups were further split into two
halves- one which received oxytocin and the other with placebo.
Results obtained showed that the children part of the CBM training were faster in terms of
interpreting maternal behaviour securely rather than insecurely. However, oxytocin had no main
or interaction effects, while combining CBM training with oxytocin had less positive effects on
trust for children with more internalizing problems.
Since there is a lack of studies which can triangulate the findings in this one the factor of
repeatability and replication is eliminated and hence we can question the validity of the results
obtained.

Christensen, James C. et al. (2014) took a different approach from the above discussed studies
in trying to find correlations between oxytocin and trust, in terms of how they measured blood
plasma oxytocin levels at the end of the experiment. They aimed to find the association between
human plasma oxytocin and interpersonal trust in a Prisoner’s Dilemma paradigm(dyadic
decision making task which is designed in such a way that each participant will act in their self-
interests).
Participants(n=120, male=53, Age= 28.0+/-7, general population in Dayton-Ohio) were
recruited in pairs along with a family or friend that they already have a trust-filled relationship
with. This study took into a wide array of possibilities that could affect the final results and
hence asked selected participants who had normal vision, reported no mental illnesses/
substance abuse/ influential medication and asked those participants to abstain from alcohol,
tobacco, and caffeine 12 hours prior to the experiment. The procedure went about in a way
where participants were given a set of information along with an initial constant amount of $120
and were lost or sustained in a way mentioned in the below table. They were then assigned
either a familiar or unfamiliar partner(randomized) in order to complete a moral
dilemma(based on the Trolley or Footbridge dilemmas). The subjects were then asked to write
down each of their answers, jointly select one of ten boxes in which they would hide their
secrets, and discuss any strategy they may wish to use for completing the Prisoner’s Dilemma
task(eg:jointly agree/defect). Each participant was then interviewed separately and was asked if
they wished to disclose the location of the secret. Any “yes” was considered a defection. Or if a
“no” after which then the experimenter identified the right box was also considered a defection
on the participants part(this could act as a form of deception in terms of how they can hide their
untrustworthy behaviour when discussing the outcomes of the interview from their partner).
Each participant then completed two additional rounds with their new partner (if familiar first
then unfamiliar next, and vice versa). Blood samples were collected almost every thirty minutes

Source:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4280178/
To sum up the data collected, there were no significant correlations observed between the
participant’s decision to trust their partner and the plasma oxytocin levels. Additionally, there
were no significant correlations established between oxytocin concentrations for participants
whose partners demonstrated trustworthiness (complied with the proposed strategy), and even
with the oxytocin levels and participants who did not display trustworthiness (did not comply
with the strategy).
A limitation with this experiment is that there cannot be any distinguishing between the decision
to trust the partner or to behave in a trustworthy fashion. Moreover, the paradigm used restricts
any coupling of oxytocin levels to behavioural patterns.

The data collected here is incongruous with ZAK, P et al.(2005) which observed trust and
trustworthiness measured using the “trust game” which had monetary benefits. They found that
oxytocin levels are higher in participants who were associated with trustworthy behaviour.9

Conclusion

Berends, Youri R. et al. (2019) conducted a Quasi experiment through which they were able to
identify a significant correlation of oxytocin and trust on aggression. Which meant that low trait
measures of trust along with low levels of oxytocin linked to a history of aggressive behaviour.
Venta, Amanda et al.(2017) also showed a similar correlation in terms of how they were able to
indicate that oxytocin raised the level of trust behavior in the patient sample to the level of a
healthy control. However, with the healthy controls, the administration of oxytocin attenuated
trust. This was congruous to previous studies which suggested the effects of oxytocin as a source
of mitigating an impairment(Heinrichs, Baumgartner, Kischbaum, Ehlert et al., 2003) or as a
source of improving emotion recognition impairments (Averbeck Bobin, Evans, and Sheryill et
al., 2012).
Some areas of the study were actually paradoxical in the context of how even healthy adults in a
trust game tend to increase their investments and thereby trust, under the influence of oxytocin
(Kosfeld et al., 2005).
Kret et al. (2017) saw that participants who self-administered oxytocin invested less in partners
with constricting pupils, than the partners who were given placebo. This could indicate how
oxytocin enhances distrust under stimuli that shows signals of lack of trustworthiness. The same
can be said about how oxytocin enhances trust under stimuli that indicate trustworthiness rather
than a placebo. This effect was opposite in females.

Contrary to most of these studies, Verhees et al.(2020) showed that children part of the CBM
training were faster in interpreting maternal behaviour securely rather than insecurely.
However, oxytocin had no main or interaction effects. In fact, combining CBM with oxytocin had
less positive effects in trust for children with more internalizing problems. We could actually
question the validity of the results shown here since there aren’t enough studies that explore the
effects of oxytocin in children.
Christensen, James C. et al. (2014) was another research which observed no effects of oxytocin
in the data collected. This again, is incongruous to several other studies like ZAK, P et al.
(2005).

I think we can conclude that there are several studies that observe the effects of oxytocin, which
are different in men and women, different in health controls and inpatient participants, different
in age groups. To understand the possibilities of oxytocin in the medical field, I believe that
more studies should be conducted in a controlled and careful setting.

References

1. Berends, Youri R. et al. "Oxytocin, Vasopressin And Trust: Associations With Aggressive
Behavior In Healthy Young Males". Physiology & Behavior, vol 204, 2019, pp. 180-185. Elsevier
BV, doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.02.027. Accessed 23 Sept 2020.

2. Venta, Amanda et al. "Paradoxical Effects Of Intranasal Oxytocin On Trust In Inpatient And
Community Adolescents". Journal Of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, vol 48, no. 5,
2017, pp. 706-715. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/15374416.2017.1399401. Accessed 23 Sept
2020.

3. Kret, Mariska E., and Carsten K. W. De Dreu. "Pupil-Mimicry Conditions Trust In Partners:
Moderation By Oxytocin And Group Membership". Proceedings Of The Royal Society B:
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7. "Cognitive Bias Modification - An Overview | Sciencedirect Topics". Sciencedirect.Com, 2020,

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/cognitive-bias-modification. Accessed 4 Oct
2020.

8. Christensen, James C. et al. "Lack Of Association Between Human Plasma Oxytocin And
Interpersonal Trust In A Prisoner’S Dilemma Paradigm". Plos ONE, vol 9, no. 12, 2014, p.
e116172. Public Library Of Science (Plos), doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0116172. Accessed 4 Oct
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9. ZAK, P et al. "Oxytocin Is Associated With Human Trustworthiness". Hormones And Behavior,
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