Psychology: Interpersonal Distance & Oxytocin

The Psychology Behind It

• Interpersonal distance is the proximity between two people during a social interaction.
• Types of interpersonal relationships include intimate relationships, everyday interactions, formal interactions, and public figures.
• Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others.
• Social hormones, such as oxytocin, promote empathy on a biological level.

The Background

• The social salience hypothesis is a popular theory that explains the social effects of oxytocin.
• Oxytocin increases attention to social cues, potentially influencing a person's comfort level in social environments.
• Higher amounts of oxytocin may result in increased focus and processing of social situations.
• The amygdala, the emotional center of the brain, is affected by oxytocin and becomes overactive when personal space gets invaded.

Aim and Research method

• Aim: This study researched how oxytocin affects the desire for interpersonal distance in those with high and low empathy.
• Methods used: Two controlled laboratory experiments.

Methodology

• The sample consisted of 54 male undergraduate students from the University of Haifa in Israel.
• Repeated measures were used in the experiments, with all participants taking part in all conditions of the study except for the low/high empathy comparison, which was a quasi-variable.
• The experiments were counterbalanced including two groups, with one group doing Experiment 1 first and the other doing Experiment 2 first, and the experiments took place a week apart from one another.

Methodology

• The first manipulation involved whether participants received oxytocin nasal drops or a placebo.
• The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) assessed high or low empathy.
• Participants with high empathy scored 40 or more on the IRI, while those with low empathy scored 33 or less.

Methodology

• Experiment 1 used a computer animation.
• Participants viewed animations depicting a stranger, authority figure, friend, or ball.
• The graphic was created using a word showing the social relationship, and then a stick figure or circle moved towards the participant.
• Participants pressed the spacebar on the computer to stop the figure.

Methodology

• Experiment 2 presented that participants would meet with another participant to discuss personal topics.
• This belief was untrue.
• A computer program allowed them to set up the room based on their comfort level.
• One group set up the chairs while the other had to move a table and plants.
• They had to choose between a pair of images for each trial.
• The distance between the chairs and the angle of chair positions were measured.

Results

• For experiment 1, there was a small difference between the oxytocin and placebo groups:
• Preferred distance lessened in the high empathy group (placebo – 26.1%, oxytocin – 23.3%).
• The opposite occurred in the low empathy group (placebo – 27%, oxytocin – 30.2%).
• In the high empathy group, the oxytocin group wanted to be much closer to the ball than the stranger or authority figure.

Results

• For experiment 2, there was a small difference between the two groups.
• The high empathy group chose closer chair distances when given oxytocin (78.07 cm) compared to placebo (80.6 cm).
• The opposite was found for the low empathy group (oxytocin – 80.1 cm, placebo – 78.3 cm).
• These effects lacked statistical significance and can only be seen as a trend.
• There was no significant effect on chair angle between the two groups.

Methodology

• Controlled variables included:
• Participants had to gaze at a fixation point for 0.5 seconds before each trial.
• Experiment 1 conducted 96 trials; Experiment 2 showed 84 pairs of rooms.
• In Experiment 2 each pair of rooms was shown for 2 seconds precisely.
• The oxytocin and saline (placebo) measurements were 250ml for each person.