Effects of oxytocin on interpersonal adaptability among insecurely attached individuals

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1042.2020.00465

Abstract

Abstract:

Oxytocin is known as the "hormone of love" and is closely associated with attachment. Previous studies have proved that oxytocin from different sources has different effects on the interpersonal adaptability of individuals with insecure attachment, mainly shown in the following ways that the lower levels of endogenous oxytocin, the worse the interpersonal adaptibility among insecurely attached individuals; Exogenous oxytocin enhanced the interpersonal adaptability among avoidantly attached individuals, but reduced the interpersonal adaptability among individuals with high anxious attachment scores; A and G Alleles were associated with interpersonal adaptibility among insecurely attached individuals. In addition, attachment theory and the social salience hypothesis are also used to explain the above effects. Defensive exclusion, external contextual factors and individual differences are also play a regulatory role that cannot be ignored. We should compare the differences between the oxytocin receptor gene and the interpersonal adaptability among insecurely attached individuals in the future. Moreover, the effects of oxytocin may have gender differences on interpersonal adaptability among individuals with insecure attachment. However, till now there are few related study focused the above question, thus it deserved to be discussed more in the future. In order to enhance the ecological validity of oxytocin related researches, future researches focused on the effects of oxytocin on the interpersonal adaptability of insecurely attached individuals should be continued studying in the process of interpersonal interaction.

Key words: oxytocin, insecure attachment, interpersonal adaptability, the social salience hypothesis, defensive exclusion

WANG Tianyu, CHEN Xu. Effects of oxytocin on interpersonal adaptability among insecurely attached individuals[J]. Advances in Psychological Science, 2020, 28(3): 465-475.

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