ReviewAttachment, aggression and affiliation: The role of oxytocin in female social behavior
Section snippets
Background
The peptide hormones oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) have been implicated in the regulation of mammalian social behavior. OT and AVP are highly conserved across species in terms of structure and function. Both are composed of nine amino acids (sharing seven in common) and have peripheral and central effects. AVP modulates a number of behaviors exhibited only by males (Goodson and Bass, 2001) while OT is more closely involved in female behavior.
Peripherally, OT regulates uterine
Maternal care and defence: animal studies
The role of OT in maternal behavior has been extensively researched and thoroughly reviewed elsewhere (Broad et al., 2006, Insel, 2000, Kendrick, 2000). Although females in many mammalian species avoid and even attack newborns, these hostile nulliparous females quickly become nurturant after giving birth. In late pregnancy, in response to rising estrogen levels, OT receptors are upregulated in the uterus and the brain. Vagino-cervical stimulation during parturition triggers activation of OT
Trait affiliation model
Oxytocin has been implicated in the motivation to affiliate more generally. Affiliation is conceived of as an enduring trait, similar to sociability, subject to variation between species and individuals in contrast to ‘attachment’ which characterises a specific dyadic relationship.
Issues in research interpretation and implementation
The bulk of OT research to date has been performed on rodents. Even within these taxa, there is inconsistency in the findings. In addition, there is considerable variation in receptor distribution across mammalian species. Extrapolation to humans presents the additional problem of the extent to which ‘hard-wired’ responses, such as maternal behavior, pair bonding and aggression, have been superseded by the learning and cultural transmission afforded by increased cortical size.
Within species, it
Implications for research on women's affiliation and aggression
Oxytocin is explicitly incorporated in the ‘tend and befriend’ biosocial model of women's affiliation and aggression proposed by Taylor et al. (2000). They argue that mammalian females’ evolutionarily role in nursing and defending offspring meant that a fight-or-flight response in the face of threat might risk injury to or fatal abandonment of their offspring. While testosterone primes aggressive behavior in men, females largely lack androgens and so ‘are unlikely to show a physical ‘fight’
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