Building on animal research, the past decade has witnessed a surge of interest in the effects
of oxytocin on social cognition and prosocial behavior in humans. This work has generated …

Among its many roles in body and brain, oxytocin influences social behavior. Understanding
the precise nature of this influence is crucial, both within the broader theoretical context of …

Highlights•Oxytocin is well known for its prosocial effects on behavior.•Recent studies have
highlighted antisocial effects in animal and human studies.•Both oxytocin and social …

Oxytocin is a nonapeptide that also serves as a neuromodulator in the human central
nervous system. Over the last decade, a sizeable body of literature has examined its effects …

Social behavior is crucial for day-to-day activities, and oxytocin has emerged as playing a
central regulatory role. Oxytocin increases positive social emotions such as trust and …

Background We critically reexamine extant theory and empirical study of Oxytocin. We
question whether OT is, in fact, a “social neuropeptide” as argued in dominant theories of …

For many, the terms oxytocin and vasopressin immediately evoke images of animals
interacting with one another, as both of these neuropeptides have been implicated as being …

Oxytocin is a neuropeptide involved in a wide variety of social behaviors in diverse species.
Recent research on its effects in humans has generated an arresting picture of its role in the …

Despite a general consensus that oxytocin (OT) has prosocial effects, there is no clear
agreement on how these effects are achieved. Human research on OT is reviewed under …

Humans are an unusually prosocial species, who engage in social behaviors that include
altruism—whereby an individual engages in costly or risky acts to improve the welfare of …