Perry et al

• The study aimed to examine how OT administration influences interpersonal distance preferences in individuals with varying levels of empathy. It hypothesised that OT would decrease preferred interpersonal distances among highly empathic individuals but increase them for less empathic ones​​.
• Participants – 54 male undergraduate students aged 19-32 participated, divided into high and low empathy groups based on the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) scores.
• Design – The study used a double-blind, placebo-controlled design. Participants attended two sessions a week apart, receiving either OT or a placebo
• Method – After administering OT/placebo, participants completed the IRI questionnaire. Two experiments followed
• First Experiment (Comfortable Interpersonal Distance Paradigm) – In this experiment, known as the Comfortable Interpersonal Distance (CID) paradigm, participants interacted with a computer-visualised protagonist. The protagonist would approach the participant in a computer-simulated room. Participants were instructed to indicate when they wanted the protagonist to stop, choosing a distance at which they felt most comfortable. This experiment has been previously validated and tested across different sex and age groups and with various types of protagonists.
• Second Experiment (Intimacy Context) – This experiment focused on interpersonal distance preferences in the context of intimacy. Participants were asked to choose from several computer-visualised rooms where they would prefer to sit and discuss intimate topics with another participant. This was an original paradigm, previously tested in the lab, and shown to significantly predict Comfortable Interpersonal Distance scores.
• Both experiments were designed to investigate how OT administration would affect interpersonal distance preferences among participants with varying levels of empathy.
• The hypothesis was that OT would promote closeness among highly empathic participants but might have an opposite effect on those with low empathic traits​
• Variables – The study measured the effects of OT (treatment), empathy (between-subject factor), and conditions (within-subject factors) on interpersonal distance preferences​​.
• experiment 1 (CID) – A significant main effect was found for the condition, with participants preferring different distances from the various protagonists (stranger, authority figure, friend, and ball). This effect suggests that perceived threat from others is a significant factor in mediating the equilibrium between interpersonal distance and social interaction​​.
• Experiment 2 (Intimacy Context) – A significant effect was found for the condition, but no main effect for treatment and no significant second-order interactions. However, there was a significant third-order interaction between condition, treatment, and empathy. Specifically, the treatment x empathy interaction was significant only for the chairs condition. Participants in the high empathy group chose closer chair distances following OT administration, while the opposite was true for those in the low empathy group​​.
• Overall Findings – The study concluded that administering OT had an impact on interpersonal distance preferences depending on the trait empathy levels of the participants. Participants with high empathy traits preferred closer interpersonal distances following OT administration, whereas an opposite trend was revealed among participants with low empathy traits​​.
• These results indicate that the effect of OT on social cognition and behavior varies based on individual differences, such as empathy levels. The findings support the social salience hypothesis and highlight the nuanced role of OT in influencing social interactions.
• The study concluded that Oxytocin (OT), a hormone, affects how close we want to be to other people, and this effect changes depending on how empathetic we are.
• If someone is very empathetic, OT makes them comfortable with being closer to others. But if someone is not very empathetic, OT might make them want to keep more distance.
• Therefore, OT doesn’t just make everyone friendlier or want to be closer; its effect varies from person to person based on their empathy levels.
• IRI:

  • 28 items
  • 5 point liquefy scale from ”does nit describe well” to “describes very well”
  • 4 sub scales - 7 items each
• 4 subscales in iri are perspective taking, fantasy scale, empathic concern, personal distance
• predicition: controlling for empathic traits, reacting to others would reveal effect of OT on interpersonal distance
• social salience hypothesis: refers to mechanism underlying the social effects of OT, suggests that OT alters the perceptual salience/ processing cues - support of this comes from neurological studies
• empathy: reactions of one individual to the observed experiences of another
• psychometric tests: a standard and specific method to measure mental capabilities and behavioral styles
• strengths of psychometric tests: reliable, useful, quantitative data
• weaknesses of psychometric tests: social desirability bias, reductionist
• interpersonal space correlates with

  • levels of friendship
  • attraction
  • amygdala damage
• personal space: the region surrounding a person which they regard as psychologically their
• personal zones:

  • 0-50cm - intimate
  • 0.5 - 1 m - personal
  • 1-4m - social
  • 4m or more - public
• this is a double blind study
• 2 experiments carried out - lab experiment
• predictions: controls of empathic traits (high/low empathy) effects OT and CID
• hypothesis: enhancement of social cues following OT administration would promote closeness among participants who are highly empathic but might have opposite effect on low empathetic
• criteria for sample

  • normal/ corrected vision
  • no history of mental/ neurological illness
• informed written consent
• OT administration: 24 international units in 250 ml of intranasal / sterile solution for the placebo treatment.
• both solutions were self administered in the presence of the experimenter. applied with medicine dropper, three drops in each nostril. - 45 minute waiting time after
• after solution was administered during first appointment participants were asked to complete online questionnaire (iri)
• during 45 minute wait, pps sat in quiet comfortable room and were given 3 issues of a popular israeli natural magazine in ryder to keep any social interaction to a minimum.
• order of experiments were counterbalanced among pps
• iri score < 33 - low empathy score.
• iri >40 high empathy group