Department of Psychology, Bar Ilan University.
J Exp Psychol Gen. 2018 Jan;147(1):132-138. doi: 10.1037/xge0000375. Epub 2017 Oct 26.
Charismatic leaders have had tremendous effects on the fortunes and fates of individuals and societies across the world. Via verbal and nonverbal signaling, such leaders form profound emotional bonds with followers. Despite evidence for its powerful effects, we know very little about what facilitates the charismatic relationship. Here, we argue that the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT), known to be implicated in parent-child attachment, also enhances the effects of charismatic leaders in groups. In a double-blind placebo-controlled study, we administered intranasal OT to participants, led by a confederate trained to exhibit charisma, and monitored participants' responses to the confederate's signaling while leading a group task. We found that OT enhanced the effects of 3 common manifestations of charismatic signaling-verbal behaviors, nonverbal behaviors, and followers' perceptions of the confederate's charisma-on classic outcomes of charismatic influence. Specifically, participants under OT showed more expressions of positive affect and mimicry of the leader in response to the confederate's signaling, and perceptions of the confederate's charisma had stronger effects on participants' willingness to trust each other. These findings extend the role of OT beyond the attachment bond to explain leader-follower relationships, shed light on the role of neuroendocrine factors in contagion processes in groups, and support the social saliency perspective of OT. We note, however, that because charisma was not manipulated, we had reduced control over the confederates' specific behaviors. We address this limitation in the Discussion, point to broader theoretical implications of our work, and offer ideas for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record
魅力型领导者对世界各地个人和社会的命运产生了巨大影响。通过言语和非言语信号，这些领导者与追随者建立了深刻的情感联系。尽管有证据表明其具有强大的效果，但我们对促进魅力关系的因素知之甚少。在这里，我们认为神经肽催产素（OT），已知与亲子依恋有关，也增强了群体中魅力型领导者的作用。在一项双盲安慰剂对照研究中，我们给参与者鼻腔内滴注 OT，由经过训练表现出魅力的同谋者领导，并监测参与者在领导群体任务时对同谋者信号的反应。我们发现，OT 增强了魅力信号的 3 种常见表现形式——言语行为、非言语行为和追随者对同谋者魅力的感知——对魅力影响的经典结果的影响。具体来说，在 OT 作用下的参与者对同谋者的信号表现出更多的积极情绪和对领导者的模仿，而对同谋者魅力的感知对参与者相互信任的意愿有更强的影响。这些发现将 OT 的作用扩展到了依恋关系之外，解释了领导者与追随者之间的关系，揭示了神经内分泌因素在群体传染过程中的作用，并支持了 OT 的社会显著性观点。然而，我们注意到，由于魅力没有被操纵，我们对同谋者的具体行为的控制能力降低了。我们在讨论部分解决了这一限制，指出了我们工作的更广泛的理论意义，并为未来的研究提供了思路。
