Perry et al

• Psychology being investigated in Perry et al

  • Interpersonal distance: physical space between people during interactions
  • Role of oxytocin in social interactions
  • Empathy: ability to understand and share others' feelings
• What is the aim of Perry et al?

  To examine how OT administration influences interpersonal distance in individuals with varying levels of empathy
• What is the hypothesis of Perry et al?

  OT would decrease preferred interpersonal distances among highly empathic individuals but increase it for less empathic ones
• Sample characteristics of Perry et al

  • Number of participants: 54 male students
  • Aged 19 to 32 years old
  • Undergraduate students from University of Haifa
• What is the independent variable in Perry et al?

  • High or low empathy
  • Administered OT or placebo
  • Experiment 1: Friend, ball, authority, or stranger
  • Experiment 2: distance and angles of chairs and plants
• Dependent variables in Perry et al

  • Experiment 1: Interpersonal distance
  • Experiment 2: Choice of picture
• Research method

  Laboratory experiment
• Experimental design

  Independent measures for empathy group
• Procedure for experiment 1


  • Randomly assigned to OT or placebo group
  • Intepersonal distance preference was measured using a stop-distance paradigm using a computer that flashed the words for 2 seconds
  • Empathy levels were then assessed using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index
• Procedure for experiment 2 


  • Randomly assigned to OT or placebo group
  • Participants were informed of a future personal meeting
  • Participants were asked to choose from several rooms where they would prefer to have the meeting in
• Overall findings between experiments


  Participants with high empathy traits preferred closer interpersonal distances following OT administration, whereas an opposite trend was revealed among participants with low empathy traits​​.
• Strengths and Weaknesses


  Strengths:

  • High internal validity
  • Control of extraneous variables
  • Reliability due to standardisation

  Weaknesses:

  • Marginal significance of results
  • Limited generalisability
  • Reduced ecological validity