Empathic Disequilibrium Is Related to Lower Levels of Oxytocin in Hair

A study involving 46 participants (61% females, average age 23.46±1.24) examined the relationship between oxytocin levels in hair and empathic disequilibrium, an imbalance between cognitive empathy (CE) and emotional empathy (EE). The study found that neither CE nor EE individually were related to oxytocin levels. However, both types of empathic disequilibrium (higher EE than CE and higher CE than EE) were associated with lower levels of oxytocin (b = -49.16, β = -0.46, p = 0.01). This suggests that oxytocin might play a role in maintaining a balance between EE and CE, and a disruption in this balance is related to lower levels of hair oxytocin. This finding could help understand the biopsychological mechanisms underlying the links between empathy and various psychiatric conditions.