Shifting the sociometer: opioid receptor blockade lowers self-esteem.

Given the evolutionary importance of social ties for survival, humans are thought to have evolved psychobiological mechanisms to monitor and safeguard the status of their social bonds. At the psychological level, self-esteem is proposed to function as a gauge-'sociometer'-reflecting one's social belongingness status. At the biological level, endogenous opioids appear to be an important substrate for the hedonic signalling needed to regulate social behaviour. We investigated whether endogenous opioids may serve as the biological correlate of the sociometer. We administered 50 mg naltrexone (an opioid receptor antagonist) and placebo in a counterbalanced order to 26 male and female participants on two occasions ∼1 week apart. Participants reported lower levels of self-esteem-particularly self-liking-on the naltrexone (vs placebo) day. We also explored a potential behavioural consequence of naltrexone administration: attentional bias to accepting (smiling) faces-an early-stage perceptual process thought to maximize opportunities to restore social connection. Participants exhibited heightened attentional bias towards accepting faces on the naltrexone (vs placebo) day, which we interpret as an indicator of heightened social need under opioid receptor blockade. We discuss implications of these findings for understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of sociality as well as the relationship between adverse social conditions, low self-esteem and psychopathology.

How culturally unique are pandemic effects? Evaluating cultural similarities and differences in effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on COVID impacts.

Despite being bio-epidemiological phenomena, the causes and effects of pandemics are culturally influenced in ways that go beyond national boundaries. However, they are often studied in isolated pockets, and this fact makes it difficult to parse the unique influence of specific cultural psychologies. To help fill in this gap, the present study applies existing cultural theories via linear mixed modeling to test the influence of unique cultural factors in a multi-national sample (that moves beyond Western nations) on the effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on pandemic outcomes that include adverse financial impacts, adverse resource impacts, adverse psychological impacts, and the health impacts of COVID. Our study spanned 19 nations (participant N = 14,133) and involved translations into 9 languages. Linear mixed models revealed similarities across cultures, with both young persons and women reporting worse outcomes from COVID across the multi-national sample. However, these effects were generally qualified by culture-specific variance, and overall more evidence emerged for effects unique to each culture than effects similar across cultures. Follow-up analyses suggested this cultural variability was consistent with models of pre-existing inequalities and socioecological stressors exacerbating the effects of the pandemic. Collectively, this evidence highlights the importance of developing culturally flexible models for understanding the cross-cultural nature of pandemic psychology beyond typical WEIRD approaches.

Variation in the µ-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) and experiences of felt security in response to a romantic partner's quarrelsome behavior.

Research suggests that endogenous opioids play a key role in the creation and maintenance of attachment bonds. Opioids acting at the µ-opioid receptor mediate reward and analgesia and are thus thought to underlie feelings of comfort and warmth experienced in the presence of close others. Disruption of µ-opioidergic activity increases separation distress in animals, suggesting that low opioid states may contribute to social pain. Accordingly, a functional µ-opioid receptor (OPRM1) polymorphism (C77G in primates, A118G in humans) affecting opioidergic signaling has been associated with separation distress and attachment behavior in nonhuman primates, and social pain sensitivity in humans. However, no research has examined the effects of this polymorphism on socioemotional experience, and specifically felt security, in daily interactions between romantic partners. Using an event-contingent recording method, members of 92 cohabiting romantic couples reported their felt security and quarrelsome behavior in daily interactions with each other for 20 days. Consistent with prior work, findings suggested that, relative to AA homozygotes, G allele carriers were more sensitive to their partners' self-reported quarrelsome behaviors (e.g., criticism), showing a greater decline in felt security when their partners reported higher quarrelsome behavior than usual. This is the first study to link variation in OPRM1 with felt security toward romantic partners in everyday social interactions. More generally, this research supports the theory that the attachment system incorporated evolutionarily primitive pain-regulating opioidergic pathways. We also discuss implications of this work for understanding of differential vulnerability to health risks posed by social stress.

Opioid receptor blockade inhibits self-disclosure during a closeness-building social interaction.

Social ties are critical to human health and well-being; thus, it is important to gain a better understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms involved in the development of interpersonal closeness. Prior research indicates that endogenous opioids may play a role in social affiliation by elaborating feelings of social connection and warmth; however, it is not currently known whether opioids mediate affiliative behavior and emerging feelings of closeness in humans at the relationship initiation stage. This randomized, double-blind study examined opioidergic processes in the context of a naturalistic, face-to-face social interaction. Eighty pairs of unacquainted participants (final N = 159 due to removal of one dyad member from analysis) received either 50 mg of the opioid receptor antagonist naltrexone or placebo prior to completing a closeness-building exercise centered on escalating self-disclosure (sharing of personal information about the self). Compared to the placebo group, naltrexone participants held lower social reward expectations prior to the interaction, engaged in less intimacy-fostering behavior (self-disclosure) during the interaction, and reported wanting less closeness with their partner. Feelings of social connection were not significantly lower in the naltrexone group. However, placebo participants experienced improvements in mood after the closeness-building task whereas naltrexone participants did not. These findings suggest that endogenous opioids may contribute to behavioral, affective, and motivational processes related to the development of initial closeness.

Reminders of Social Connection Can Attenuate Anthropomorphism.

It is a fundamental human need to secure and sustain a sense of social belonging. Previous research has shown that individuals who are lonely are more likely than people who are not lonely to attribute humanlike traits (e.g., free will) to nonhuman agents (e.g., an alarm clock that makes people get up by moving away from the sleeper), presumably in an attempt to fulfill unmet needs for belongingness. We directly replicated the association between loneliness and anthropomorphism in a larger sample ( N = 178); furthermore, we showed that reminding people of a close, supportive relationship reduces their tendency to anthropomorphize. This finding provides support for the idea that the need for belonging has causal effects on anthropomorphism. Last, we showed that attachment anxiety-characterized by intense desire for and preoccupation with closeness, fear of abandonment, and hypervigilance to social cues-was a stronger predictor of anthropomorphism than loneliness was. This finding helps clarify the mechanisms underlying anthropomorphism and supports the idea that anthropomorphism is a motivated process reflecting the active search for potential sources of connection.