Does Oxytocin modulate Mimetic Desires?

Treinen, Evelyne [UCL] Lane, Anthony [UCL] Corneille, Olivier [UCL] Samson, Dana [UCL] Mikolajczak, Moïra [UCL] Luminet, Olivier [UCL] de Timary, Philippe [UCL]

Recent studies showed that stimuli are evaluated more favorably when perceived to receive others' attention (e.g. Bayliss, Paul, Cannon, & Tipper, 2006), an effect coined “mimetic desires” (Girard, 1987). This effect is modulated by the perceived trustworthiness of the target (Treinen, Corneille & Luypaert, 2012; King, Rowe & Leonards, 2011). Because the neuropeptide oxytocin enhances bonding (e.g. Winslow & Insel, 2002) and increases attention to and memory for social cues (Theodoridou, Rowe, Penton-Voak, & Rogers, 2009), we expected stronger mimetic desires in the oxytocin than in the placebo condition. Ninenty-five male participants (Mage=22.53, SD=2.89) were recruited for a randomized, double blind, between-subject design. During the experiment, participants were exposed to a male 3D face with neutral facial expression. The face turned his attention towards two neutral art paintings and away from two other paintings. These associations were presented 8 times. Participants were then asked to evaluate the paintings on a 9-point likert scale and completed a memory test for the associations (i.e. was the painting looked at or looked away from?). Mimetic desires (i.e. higher ratings for looked-at-paintings than for paintings looked away from) were found in the oxytocin condition (MLooked at=5.24, SD=1.30, MLooked away= 4.38, SD=1.50) but not in the placebo condition (MLooked at=4.93, SD=1.20, MLooked away= 5.09, SD=1.39). Analyses of the memory test furthermore revealed that oxytocin did not affect participant’s memory of the presented associations. Implications of these findings for social and affective learning processes will be discussed.