Terburg David, Syal Supriya, Rosenberger Lisa A, Heany Sarah J, Stein Dan J, Honk Jack van
Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Canada.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2016 Oct;72:205-11. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.07.203. Epub 2016 Jul 14.
Neuro-evolutionary theories describe social anxiety as habitual subordinate tendencies acquired through a recursive cycle of social defeat and submissive reactions. If so, the steroid hormone testosterone might be of therapeutic value, as testosterone is a main force behind implicit dominance drive in many species including humans. We combined these two theories to investigate whether the tendency to submit to the dominance of others is an implicit mechanism in social anxiety (Study-1), and whether this can be relieved through testosterone administration (Study-2). Using interactive eye-tracking we demonstrate that socially anxious humans more rapidly avert gaze from subliminal angry eye contact (Study-1). We replicate this effect of implicit subordination in social anxiety in an independent sample, which is subsequently completely abolished after a single placebo-controlled sublingual testosterone administration (Study-2). These findings provide crucial evidence for hormonal and behavioral treatment strategies that specifically target mechanisms of dominance and subordination in social anxiety.
神经进化理论将社交焦虑描述为通过社交挫败和顺从反应的递归循环获得的习惯性从属倾向。如果是这样，类固醇激素睾酮可能具有治疗价值，因为睾酮是包括人类在内的许多物种中隐性支配驱动力背后的主要力量。我们结合这两种理论来研究向他人的支配地位屈服的倾向是否是社交焦虑中的一种隐性机制（研究1），以及这是否可以通过给予睾酮来缓解（研究2）。使用交互式眼动追踪，我们证明社交焦虑的人会更快地从潜意识的愤怒眼神接触中转移视线（研究1）。我们在一个独立样本中复制了社交焦虑中隐性从属的这种效应，随后在单次安慰剂对照舌下给予睾酮后，这种效应完全消失（研究2）。这些发现为专门针对社交焦虑中支配和从属机制的激素和行为治疗策略提供了关键证据。
