Abstract

Rules, whether in the form of norms, taboos or laws, regulate and coordinate human life. Some rules, however, are arbitrary and adhering to them can be personally costly. Rigidly sticking to such rules can be considered maladaptive. Here, we test whether, at the neurobiological level, (mal)adaptive rule adherence is reduced by oxytocin—a hypothalamic neuropeptide that biases the biobehavioural approach-avoidance system. Participants (N = 139) self-administered oxytocin or placebo intranasally, and reported their need for structure and approach-avoidance sensitivity. Next, participants made binary decisions and were given an arbitrary rule that demanded to forgo financial benefits. Under oxytocin, participants violated the rule more often, especially when they had high need for structure and high approach sensitivity. Possibly, oxytocin dampens the need for a highly structured environment and enables individuals to flexibly trade-off internal desires against external restrictions. Implications for the treatment of clinical disorders marked by maladaptive rule adherence are discussed.

Details

Title
Oxytocin conditions trait-based rule adherence
Author
Gross, Jörg 1 ; Carsten KW De Dreu 2 

 Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; University of Amsterdam, Center for Experimental Economics and Political Decision Making (CREED), Amsterdam, The Netherlands 
 University of Amsterdam, Center for Experimental Economics and Political Decision Making (CREED), Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands 
Pages
427-435
Publication year
2017
Publication date
Mar 2017
Publisher
Oxford University Press
ISSN
17495016
e-ISSN
17495024
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3171534565
Copyright
© The Author(s) (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.