Are we doomed to repeat our parents’ mistakes? According to science, that might be possible.
If your parents were cheaters or there was infidelity in your family, you may have inherited genes that make you more likely to be unfaithful in your relationships.
Multiple studies dating back two decades have shown strong associations between inherited genetics and the likelihood of someone cheating on their partner, which could have roots in evolution.
Dr. Madeleine Fugère, a social psychologist at Eastern Connecticut State University, reviewed three major studies on the topic involving thousands of people from around the world.
Based on her analysis, she concluded that the research “suggests that infidelity has a strong genetic link.”
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She wrote for Psychology Today: “Infidelity has a genetic basis because in our evolutionary history it has been advantageous to pursue alternative partners to potentially increase the number of offspring.”
One 2004 study reviewed by Dr. Fugère was one of the first to examine this issue.
The research, by epidemiologists from St. Thomas’ Hospital in Londonsuggested that the inheritance of cheating had as strong a genetic component as inheriting high blood pressure.
The team surveyed 1,600 women, all either fraternal twins – who share half their DNA – or identical twins – who share all their DNA – to find out which of them had cheated on their partners.
The results showed that 21 percent of identical twins and 23 percent of fraternal twins had been infidelity — defined as having sex with someone other than a spouse or partner while married or living with that partner.
To determine whether cheating had a genetic link, researchers compared the agreement between each group. Concordance is the scientific term to describe similarities between two groups.
It is often used to refer to the presence of the same trait in both members of a twin.
In this case, if both twins in the study had cheated on their partner, they showed concordance.
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If the identical twins had a higher degree of similarity than the fraternal twins, the researchers could conclude that their behavior was linked to their genes, since identical twins share 100 percent of their genetic code and fraternal twins only about 50 percent. .
And the study found that there was a higher rate of concordance among identical twins – meaning an identical twin is more likely to be unfaithful if their twin had been unfaithful before.
The researchers therefore concluded that the tendency to cheat could be about 41 percent hereditary.
In other words, having certain genes can affect up to almost half a person’s chance of cheating. According to the research, the remaining 59 percent that influences whether or not someone cheats comes from their environment.
A heritability of 41 percent is comparable to how likely you are to develop migraines, depression and high blood pressure, said study author Lynn Cherkas.
The next study that Dr. Fugère analyzed, was carried out by psychologists of the University of Queensland on 7,378 twins from Finland in 2015.
They used the same techniques as in the 2004 study to determine whether there was a genetic link to infidelity.
Researchers found that the link with cheating was even stronger than previous studies had suggested.
The team found that 63 percent of cheating in men could be due to genetics. For women, that percentage was 40 percent.
“Our research clearly shows that people’s genetic makeup influences how likely they are to have sex with someone outside their main partnership,” Dr Brendan Zietsch, who led the study, told the Economic times.
None of the researchers have been able to identify one certain ‘cheating gene’. But many suggested it could be linked to some of the genes linked to risk-taking.
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The third study reviewed was conducted in 2010 on a group of 181 unrelated students by researchers from Binghamton University and the University of Georgia.
The team collected surveys from the students about their infidelity and took oral swabs to conduct genetic analysis.
They found that the students who had a particular variation of a gene called the dopamine D4 receptor gene were 50 percent more likely to cheat on their partner.
This gene plays a role in the brain’s pleasure system and is interconnected in previous studies to pleasure-seeking behavior such as drinking alcohol and eating.
Given the high correlation between people with the gene who tend to cheat, researchers concluded that infidelity could be linked to having this particular type of dopamine receptor.
However, having this gene doesn’t mean you’re doomed to cheat on your partner, said study author Justin Garcia, because people still have power over their own sexual choices, he said. Newswise.
Garcia added, “These genes don’t give anyone an excuse, but they do provide an insight into how our biology shapes our tendencies toward a wide range of behaviors.”