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Oxytocin attenuates racial categorization in 14-month-old infants
M Ferera1, R Feldman2, O Zagoory-Sharon2
1Department of Psychology and Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel.
Infant Behavior & Development
|March 2, 2023
Summary
Oxytocin (OT) inhibited racial categorization in 14-month-old infants. This suggests that activating affiliative motivation may impact early social cognition and intergroup bias development.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Neuroscience
- Infant Cognition
Background:
- Intergroup bias, favoring one's social group, is evident early in life.
- Infants show inborn social group cognition, suggesting biological mechanisms.
- Affiliative motivation's role in social categorization is not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of oxytocin (OT) on infants' social categorization capacity.
- To explore the link between affiliative motivation and early intergroup bias.
- To assess how biological activation of affiliation influences infant social cognition.
Main Methods:
- 14-month-old infants and their mothers participated in a two-visit study.
- Mothers administered oxytocin (OT) or placebo (PL) nasally before interacting with infants.
- Infants completed a racial categorization task using an eye-tracker.
Main Results:
- Infants in the placebo (PL) condition exhibited racial categorization.
- Infants in the oxytocin (OT) condition did not exhibit racial categorization.
- This inhibitory effect of OT on categorization persisted across visits.
Conclusions:
- Oxytocin (OT) inhibits racial categorization in infants.
- Affiliative motivation plays a significant role in social categorization.
- The neurobiology of affiliation may offer insights into intergroup bias mechanisms.
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