Effects of ecstasy on cooperative behaviour and perception of trustworthiness: a naturalistic study.
J Psychopharmacol
; 28(11): 1001-8, 2014 Nov.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25122044
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Acute recreational use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; 'ecstasy') can promote pro-social effects which may alter interpersonal perceptions.AIMS:
To explore such effects, this study investigated whether acute recreational use of ecstasy was associated with changes in individual perception of trustworthiness of people's faces and co-operative behaviours.METHOD:
An independent group, repeated measures design was used in which 17 ecstasy users were tested on the night of drug use (day 0) and again three days later (day 3); 22 controls were tested on parallel days. On each day, participants rated the trustworthiness of 66 faces, carried out three co-operative behaviour tasks (public good; dictator; ultimatum game) and completed mood self-ratings.RESULTS:
Acute ecstasy use was associated with increased face trustworthiness ratings and increased cooperative behaviour on the dictator and ultimatum games; on day 3 there were no group differences on any task. Self-ratings showed the standard acute ecstasy effects (euphoria, energy, jaw clenching) with negative effects (less empathy, compassion, more distrust, hostility) emerging on day 3.CONCLUSIONS:
Our findings of increased perceived trustworthiness and co-operative behaviours following use of ecstasy suggest that a single dose of the drug enhances aspects of empathy. This may in turn contribute to its popularity as a recreational drug and potentially to its enhancement of the therapeutic alliance in psychotherapy.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Percepção Social
/
N-Metil-3,4-Metilenodioxianfetamina
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Comportamento Cooperativo
/
Confiança
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2014
Tipo de documento:
Article