Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Dec;28(12):1763-1772.
doi: 10.1177/0956797617716922. Epub 2017 Oct 2.

Oxytocin and Social Bonds: The Role of Oxytocin in Perceptions of Romantic Partners' Bonding Behavior

Sara B Algoe  1 , Laura E Kurtz  1 , Karen Grewen  1
Affiliations

Oxytocin and Social Bonds: The Role of Oxytocin in Perceptions of Romantic Partners' Bonding Behavior

Sara B Algoe et al. Psychol Sci. 2017 Dec.

Abstract

In this research, we tested hypotheses about the role of oxytocin in adult human bonding. Inspired by revisiting the research on pair bonding in microtine voles that fueled psychologists' interest in the role of oxytocin in social life, we drew on recent theory from affective and relationship science to identify a well-defined bonding context for human romantic relationships. We then paired these behaviors and subjective psychological responses with a measure of naturally circulating oxytocin. In 129 romantically involved adults whose partner expressed gratitude to them in the lab, greater oxytocin over the prior 24 hr was associated with greater perceptions of the expresser's responsiveness and gratitude, as well as greater experienced love, but not general affective reward. Moreover, in this one-time conversation, higher oxytocin acted like rose-colored glasses, attenuating the effect of a partner's behaviorally coded expressive behavior on perceptions of the expresser's responsiveness. These results justify future research on the role of oxytocin in psychological aspects of growth processes.

Keywords: emotions; interpersonal interaction; neuroendocrinology; relationship quality; social perception.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declared that they had no conflicts of interest with respect to their authorship or the publication of this article.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Components of adult human bonding through gratitude. Partner A’s expression of gratitude—particularly when it includes praise of Partner B’s actions—is associated with Partner B’s perception of the expresser’s responsiveness (primary outcome), as well as experienced love (secondary outcome; Algoe, Kurtz, & Hilaire, 2016). In turn, perceived expresser responsiveness is associated with Partner B’s future personal and relationship satisfaction (Algoe, Fredrickson, & Gable, 2013; Algoe & Zhaoyang, 2015).
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Targets’ mean perception of expressers’ responsiveness as a function of expressers’ praising behavior and level of targets’ circulating oxytocin. Low and high refer to values 1 standard deviation below and above the mean, respectively.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Algoe S. B. (2012). Find, remind, and bind: The functions of gratitude in everyday relationships. Social & Personality Psychology Compass, 6, 455–469. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2012.00439.x - DOI
    1. Algoe S. B., Fredrickson B. L., Gable S. L. (2013). The social functions of the emotion of gratitude via expression. Emotion, 13, 605–609. doi:10.1037/a0032701 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Algoe S. B., Gable S. L., Maisel N. C. (2010). It’s the little things: Everyday gratitude as a booster shot for romantic relationships. Personal Relationships, 17, 217–233. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.2010.01273.x - DOI
    1. Algoe S. B., Haidt J. (2009). Witnessing excellence in action: The “other-praising” emotions of elevation, gratitude, and admiration. Journal of Positive Psychology, 4, 105–127. doi:10.1080/17439760802650519 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Algoe S. B., Kurtz L. E., Hilaire N. (2016). Putting the “you” in “thank you”: Other-praising behavior explains the role of expressed gratitude in social life. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 7, 658–666. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources