Oxytocin, vasopressin, and their receptor genes influence prosocial behavior in the laboratory and in the context of close relationships. These peptides may also promote social engagement following threat. However, the scope of their prosocial effects is unknown. We examined oxytocin receptor (OXTR) polymorphism rs53576, as well as vasopressin receptor 1a (AVPR1a) polymorphisms rs1 and rs3 in a national sample of U.S. residents (n = 348). These polymorphisms interacted with perceived threat to predict engagement in volunteer work or charitable activities and commitment to civic duty. Specifically, greater perceived threat predicted engagement in fewer charitable activities for individuals with A/A and A/G genotypes of OXTR rs53576, but not for G/G individuals. Similarly, greater perceived threat predicted lower commitment to civic duty for individuals with one or two short alleles for AVPR1a rs1, but not for individuals with only long alleles. Oxytocin, vasopressin, and their receptor genes may significantly influence prosocial behavior and may lie at the core of the caregiving behavioral system.
ApicellaC. L.CesariniD.JohannessonM.DawesC. T.LichtensteinP.WallaceB.WestbergL. (2010). No association between oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene polymorphisms and experimentally elicited social preferences. PLoS ONE, 5(6), e11153. Retrieved from http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0011153
2.
Bakermans-KranenburgM. J.van IJzendoornM. H. (2008). Oxytocin receptor (OXTR) and serotonin transporter (5-HTT) genes associated with observed parenting. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 3, 128–134.
BaumgartnerT.HeinrichsM.VonlanthenA.FischbacherU.FehrE. (2008). Oxytocin shapes the neural circuitry of trust and trust adaptation in humans. Neuron, 58, 639–650.
5.
BrownS. L.BrownR. M. (2006). Selective investment theory: Recasting the functional significance of close relationships. Psychological Inquiry, 17, 1–29.
6.
CampbellA. (2010). Oxytocin and human social behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14, 281–295.
7.
DitzenB.SchaerM.GabrielB.BodenmannG.EhlertU.HeinrichsM. (2008). Intranasal oxytocin increases positive communication and reduces cortisol levels during couple conflict. Biological Psychiatry, 65, 728–731.
8.
DuncanL. E.KellerM. C. (2011). A critical review of the first 10 years of candidate gene-by-environment interaction research in psychiatry. American Journal of Psychiatry, 168, 1041–1049.
9.
EbsteinR. P.IsraelS.LererE.UzefovskyF.ShalevI.GritsenkoI.. . .YirmiyaN. (2009). Arginine vasopressin and oxytocin modulate human social behavior. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1167, 87–102.
10.
FeldmanR.GordonI.SchneidermanI.WeismanO.Zagoory-SharonO. (2010). Natural variations in maternal and paternal care are associated with systematic changes in oxytocin following parent-infant contact. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 35, 1133–1141.
11.
GrazianoW. G.HabashiM. M. (2010). Motivational processes underlying both prejudice and helping. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14, 313–331.
12.
IsraelS.LererE.ShalevI.UzefovskyF.ReiboldM.Bachner-MelmanR.EbsteinR. P. (2008). Molecular genetic studies of the arginine vasopressin 1a receptor (AVPR1a) and the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) in human behaviour: From autism to altruism with some notes in between. Progress in Brain Research, 170, 435–449.
13.
Janoff-BulmanR. (1989). Assumptive worlds and the stress of traumatic events: Applications of the schema construct. Social Cognition, 7, 113–136.
14.
JonesA. C.GoslingS. D. (2008). Individual differences in approach and avoidance motivation in animals. In ElliotA. J. (Ed.), Handbook of approach and avoidance motivation (pp. 165–185). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
15.
KirschP.EsslingerC.ChenQ.MierD.LisS.SiddhantiS. . . . Meyer-LindenbergA. (2005). Oxytocin modulates neural circuitry for social cognition and fear in humans. The Journal of Neuroscience, 25, 11489–11493.
16.
KnafoA.IsraelS.DarvasiA.Bachner-MelmanR.UzefovskyF.CohenL.EbsteinR. P. (2008). Individual differences in allocation of funds in the dictator game associated with length of the arginine vasopressin 1a receptor RS3 promoter region and correlation between RS3 length and hippocampal mRNA. Genes, Brain and Behavior, 7, 266–275.
LevinR.Heresco-LevyU.Bachner-MelmanR.IsraelS.ShalevI.EbsteinR. P. (2009). Association between arginine vasopressin 1a receptor (AVPR1a) promoter region polymorphisms and prepulse inhibition. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 34, 901–908.
19.
Meyer-LindenbergA.KolachanaB.GoldB.OlshA.NicodemusK. K.MattayV.WeinbergerD. R. (2008). Genetic variants in AVPR1a linked to autism predict amygdala activation and personality traits in healthy humans. Molecular Psychiatry, 14, 968–975.
20.
MikolajczakM.GrossJ. J.LaneA.CorneilleO.de TimaryP.LuminetO. (2010). Oxytocin makes people trusting, not gullible. Psychological Science, 21, 1072–1074.
21.
PetrovicP.KalischR.SingerT.DolanR. J. (2008). Oxytocin attenuates affective evaluations of conditioned faces and amygdala activity. The Journal of Neuroscience, 28, 6607–6615.
22.
RodriguesS. M.SaslowL. R.GarciaN.JohnO. P.KeltnerD. (2009). Oxytocin receptor genetic variation relates to empathy and stress reactivity in humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 106, 21437–21441.
23.
ShalevI.IsraelS.UzefovskyF.GritsenkoI.KaitzM.EbsteinR. P. (2011). Vasopressin needs an audience: Neuropeptide elicited stress responses are contingent upon perceived social evaluative threats. Hormones and Behavior, 60, 121–127.
24.
SilverR. C.HolmanE. A.McIntoshD. N.PoulinM.Gil-RivasV.PizarroJ. (2006). Coping with a national trauma: A nationwide longitudinal study of responses to the terrorist attacks of September 11. In NeriaY.GrossR.MarshallR.SusserE. (Eds.), 9/11: Mental health in the wake of terrorist attacks (pp. 45–70). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
25.
ThompsonR. R.GeorgeK.WaltonJ. C.OrrS. P.BensonJ. (2006). Sex-specific influences of vasopressin on human social communication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 103, 7889–7894.
26.
TostH.KolachanaB.HakimiS.LemaitreH.VerchinskiB. A.MattayV. S.Meyer-LindenbergA. (2010). A common allele in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) impacts prosocial temperament and human hypothalamic-limbic structure and function. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 107, 13936–13941.
27.
UchinoB. N. (2009). Understanding the links between social support and physical health: A life-span perspective with emphasis on the separability of perceived and received support. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 4, 236–255.
WalumH.WestbergL.HenningssonS.NeiderhiserJ. M.ReissD.IglW.LichtensteinP. (2008). Genetic variation in the vasopressin receptor 1a gene (AVPR1a) associates with pair-bonding behavior in humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 105, 14153–14156.
30.
WuS.JiaM.RuanY.LiuJ.GuoY.ShuangM.ZhangD. (2005). Positive association of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) with autism in the Chinese Han population. Biological Psychiatry, 58, 74–77.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
