Oxytocin promotes coordinated out-group attack during intergroup conflict in humans.

ABSTRACT: Intergroup conflict contributes to human discrimination and violence, but persists because individuals make costly contributions to their group's fighting capacity. Yet, how group members effectively coordinate their contributions during intergroup conflict remains poorly understood. Here, we examine the role of oxytocin for (the coordination of) contributions to group attack or defense in multi-round, real-time feedback intergroup contests. In a double-blind placebo-controlled study with N = 480 males in Intergroup Attacker-Defender Contests, we found that oxytocin reduced contributions to attack and over time increased attacker's within-group coordination of contributions. However, rather than becoming peaceful, attackers given oxytocin better tracked their rival's historical defense and

SUBMITTER: Zhang H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6347450 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature