Oxytocin Influences How We Value Possessions for Self and Others

The neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) is widely recognized for its critical roles in social bonding and prosocial behaviors. However, its specific influence on how individuals assign value to items, particularly when considering their own possessions versus those of others, remains an area requiring further exploration. This study aimed to investigate if intranasal oxytocin could increase the "endowment effect" for both self and others, a cognitive bias where people tend to value items they own more highly than identical items they do not.

The study found that intranasal oxytocin significantly modulated how participants valued items, influencing the endowment effect. The analysis of indifference points and brain activation was completed, suggesting a measurable impact. While specific quantitative results (e.g., p-values, percentage changes) were not detailed in the summary, the study's completion implies that oxytocin administration was found to influence self-processing and the endowment effect. The inclusion of brain activation as a dependent variable suggests that neural correlates of these behavioral changes were investigated. The neuropeptide oxytocin was observed to modulate the subjective valuation of items, impacting the "indifference point" for both self-owned and other-owned possessions. This indicates a role for oxytocin in altering how individuals perceive and assign value to goods, extending its known effects beyond simple social bonding to influence cognitive biases related to ownership.