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Study · Randomized controlled trial · n = 52 · 2017

3 results

Working hard for oneself or others: Effects of oxytocin on reward motivation in social anxiety disorder.

Fang A, Treadway MT, Hofmann SG

Biological psychology27 May 2017Cited by 23 (Europe PMC)

PMID28559206 (opens in a new tab)PMCIDPMC5949234 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.05.015 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-28559206
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Summary

The text of this summary is not shown here, because the article license does not allow reuse. Read it at the source (opens in a new tab)

Text rights: Publisher copyright. Results still quote short attributed sentences.

Results from this study3

3 results from studies that gave the peptide. 3 results from people.

  1. 01HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In males with social anxiety disorder, oxytocin had no main effect on willingness to work for self versus other rewards compared with placebo.

    In plain wordsIn men with social anxiety disorder, oxytocin had no overall effect on willingness to work for self or others compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    No significant changeWillingness to work for self vs other rewards (main drug effect)
    Study

    n = 52

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Social behavior and cognition · Mental health and mood
    Studied dose
    24 international unitsAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Although there was no main drug effect
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    Fifty-two males with SAD received 24 international units of oxytocin or placebo, and completed a reward motivation task that measured willingness to work for self vs. other monetary rewards.
  2. 02HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In males with social anxiety disorder, oxytocin made less socially anxious individuals work harder for other than for own rewards, compared with highly socially anxious individuals.

    In plain wordsIn men with social anxiety disorder, oxytocin led those with lower social anxiety to work harder for others' rewards than those with high social anxiety.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    MixedEffort for other vs own rewards by social anxiety severity
    Study

    n = 52

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Social behavior and cognition · Mental health and mood
    Studied dose
    24 international unitsAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Less socially anxious individuals who received oxytocin worked harder for other vs. own rewards, compared to high socially anxious individuals.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    Fifty-two males with SAD received 24 international units of oxytocin or placebo, and completed a reward motivation task that measured willingness to work for self vs. other monetary rewards.
  3. 03HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In males with social anxiety disorder, attachment did not moderate the effect of oxytocin on reward motivation.

    In plain wordsIn men with social anxiety disorder, attachment style did not change how oxytocin affected willingness to work for rewards.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    No significant changeModeration of oxytocin effect by attachment
    Study

    n = 52

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Social behavior and cognition · Mental health and mood
    Studied dose
    24 international unitsAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Attachment did not moderate this effect.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    Fifty-two males with SAD received 24 international units of oxytocin or placebo, and completed a reward motivation task that measured willingness to work for self vs. other monetary rewards.

AI wrote and checked these results. AI can make mistakes, so check important results against the source.

Registered trials1

Trials this study reports on, or that list this study as a reference. Registry data from ClinicalTrials.gov.

1 trial · 1 completed · 1 with posted results · source ClinicalTrials.gov (opens in a new tab)

CompletedPhase 1/2Results postedNCT01856530

Effect of Oxytocin Nasal Sprays on Social Behavior in Social Anxiety Disorder

Stefan G. Hofmannn = 60Jul 2012 to Aug 2013

Social Anxiety Disorder

Trial pageClinicalTrials.govUpdated 13 Feb 2018

Version history

PepBank keeps every version of the data on this study. Status changes from Retraction Watch, Europe PMC and Crossref are listed with their source.

  1. Version 2Current

    11 Oct 2026, 01:30 UTC

    Study results updated

  2. Version 1

    9 Oct 2026, 02:49 UTC

    First added · source update from Europe PMC

Subjects

Terms as the source lists them.

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