Oxytocin and the altruistic 'Goldilocks zone'

Ian D Roberts; Yi Yang Teoh; Cendri A Hutcherson

doi:10.1038/s41593-019-0362-y

Oxytocin and the altruistic 'Goldilocks zone'

Nat Neurosci. 2019 Apr;22(4):510-512. doi: 10.1038/s41593-019-0362-y.

Authors

Ian D Roberts¹, Yi Yang Teoh¹, Cendri A Hutcherson^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
² Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [email protected].
³ Department of Marketing, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [email protected].

Abstract

When choosing whether to act altruistically, people may compare the current option to an idiosyncratic ideal. Pro-social individuals seem to represent deviations from that ideal in the amygdala, but selfish individuals do not. Oxytocin administration makes selfish individuals look more like pro-socials, behaviorally and neurally.

Publication types

Comment

MeSH terms

Amygdala
Oxytocin*
Social Values*

Substances

Oxytocin

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

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