Perry

Anat Perry, Psychology Department, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel 3498838
David Mankuta, Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Hadassah Hebrew University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel 91120
Simone G. Shamay-Tsoory, Psychology Department, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel 3498838

Interpersonal Distance: This is the physical space between individuals that influences social interactions, signaling comfort and responsiveness.
Oxytocin (OT): This hormone is suggested to modify how social cues are perceived, with effects varied by individual empathy traits.
Study Goal: To investigate how OT affects interpersonal distance preferences in relation to levels of empathy.

Interpersonal Distance: Defined as the space between individuals, crucial in social dynamics. It varies across cultures but is felt intuitively once breached, often causing discomfort or threat (Meisels and Guardo, 1969; Birtchnell, 1996).
Emotional and Motivational Influences: Emotional states significantly affect how individuals utilize personal space (Horowitz et al., 1964).
Four Zones of Personal Space (Hall, 1966):
- Intimate Distance: Personal space for close relationships, where senses are fully engaged but vision is limited.
- Personal Distance: Used for everyday interactions; visual contact occurs but less sensory engagement.
- Social Distance: More formal interactions; presence of eye contact and body language.
- Public Distance: Maintained distance from public figures.
Social Anxiety: Variably correlates with interpersonal distance preferences, leading anxious individuals to maintain greater distances (Scheele et al., 2012).
Amygdala's Role: Affects interpersonal distance; lesions in the amygdala decrease the need for personal space (Kennedy et al., 2009).
Oxytocin's Influence on Behavior: OT is linked with social cognition and behavior, often depends on contexts and personal traits:
- It can enhance social behavior (Kemp and Guastella, 2011) but can also engender negative emotions in certain contexts (Declerck et al., 2010; Shamay-Tsoory et al., 2009).

Suggests OT increases the salience of social cues, affecting cognition and behavior based on interpersonal contexts and personal perceptions (Bartz et al., 2011).

Definition: The engagement an individual demonstrates towards another's experiences (Davis, 1983).
Davis's Four Measures of Empathy:
1. Perspective Taking: Ability to adopt others' viewpoints.
2. Empathic Concern: Compassion for others' misfortunes.
3. Personal Distress: Emotional reaction to others’ suffering.
4. Fantasy Abilities: Ability to imagine oneself in fictional situations.
Empathy's Effect on Social Cue Processing: Individual empathy levels influence the recognition of facial expressions and emotional reactions (Besel and Yuille, 2010; Eisenberg and Miller, 1987).

High empathy participants: Expected to prefer closer interpersonal distances after OT administration.
Low empathy participants: Expected to prefer greater distances in similar conditions.

Sample: 54 male undergraduate students from the University of Haifa, aged 19-32 (mean age 25.29).
Diverse empathy traits determined using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), categorizing into high (n=20, IRI ≥ 40) and low (n=20, IRI ≤ 33) empathy groups.
Consent and ethical approval obtained for study conduct.

Participants attended two experimental sessions with one week apart. Each received either OT (24 international units) or a placebo solution.
Method: Administered via intranasal drops, with neither participant nor experimenter aware of the treatment.

After OT administration, participants completed the IRI, followed by a 45-minute wait to allow OT levels to stabilize.

Paradigm: Participants indicated preferred stopping distances of approaching figures in an animated room.
Figures: Varied between close friend, stranger, authority figure, and a rolling ball.
Tasks: Each participant engaged with 96 trials (24 for each figure).
Hypotheses: OT promotes closer distances for high empathy, farther for low empathy individuals among different figures.

Paradigm: Participants chose between pairs of visually similar rooms intended for intimate conversation.
Variations: Focus on distances between chairs and table-to-plant distances, along with angles of setup.
Expected Results: OT to influence chair distance preferences among high empathy individuals but not for other elements.

Statistical Method: Mixed-model ANOVA used to analyze empathy, treatment, and actor conditions.
- Significant main effect for condition, focusing on proximity preferences by character type.
- High empathy group: Decreased distances with OT (mean distance with PL = 26.11; with OT = 23.29).
- Low empathy showed an increase in preferred distance with OT (PL = 26.98; with OT = 30.20).

ANOVA revealed foot through interpersonal distances showed significant effects only in chair distances with OT.
High empathy chose closer chair distances under OT (PL = 80.58; OT = 78.07), whereas the opposite effect was noted in the low empathy group.

OT's effects are mediated by participants' empathy levels, influencing interpersonal distance preferences significantly.
Emerging findings that support the social salience hypothesis highlight the necessity for personalized approaches in social applications of OT, particularly in clinical contexts relating to social deficits.
Limitations noted include a male-only sample and potential ecological validity concerns due to computerized methods.