Oxytocin, but not vasopressin, decreases willingness to harm others by promoting moral emotions of guilt and shame

Xiaoxiao Zheng; Jiayuan Wang; Xi Yang; Lei Xu; Benjamin Becker; Barbara J Sahakian; Trevor W Robbins; Keith M Kendrick

doi:10.1038/s41380-024-02590-w

Oxytocin, but not vasopressin, decreases willingness to harm others by promoting moral emotions of guilt and shame

Mol Psychiatry. 2024 May 20. doi: 10.1038/s41380-024-02590-w. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Xiaoxiao Zheng^{1

2

3}, Jiayuan Wang^{1

2}, Xi Yang^{1

2}, Lei Xu⁴, Benjamin Becker^{1

5

6}, Barbara J Sahakian^{2

7}, Trevor W Robbins^{8

9}, Keith M Kendrick^{10

11}

Affiliations

¹ The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
² The MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
³ Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute (BCBDI), Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
⁶ Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Hills Rd., Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK.
⁸ The MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China. twr2@cam.ac.uk.
⁹ Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing St., Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK. twr2@cam.ac.uk.
¹⁰ The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China. k.kendrick.uestc@gmail.com.
¹¹ The MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China. k.kendrick.uestc@gmail.com.

PMID: 38769372
DOI: 10.1038/s41380-024-02590-w

Abstract

Prosocial and moral behaviors have overlapping neural systems and can both be affected in a number of psychiatric disorders, although whether they involve similar neurochemical systems is unclear. In the current registered randomized placebo-controlled trial on 180 adult male and female subjects, we investigated the effects of intranasal administration of oxytocin and vasopressin, which play key roles in influencing social behavior, on moral emotion ratings for situations involving harming others and on judgments of moral dilemmas where others are harmed for a greater good. Oxytocin, but not vasopressin, enhanced feelings of guilt and shame for intentional but not accidental harm and reduced endorsement of intentionally harming others to achieve a greater good. Neither peptide influenced arousal ratings for the scenarios. Effects of oxytocin on guilt and shame were strongest in individuals scoring lower on the personal distress subscale of trait empathy. Overall, findings demonstrate for the first time that oxytocin, but not vasopressin, promotes enhanced feelings of guilt and shame and unwillingness to harm others irrespective of the consequences. This may reflect associations between oxytocin and empathy and vasopressin with aggression and suggests that oxytocin may have greater therapeutic potential for disorders with atypical social and moral behavior.