You may have dictatorship in your genes

The AVPR1a gene is linked to ruthlessness in people.

14 April, 2008: Yet another “behavioural disorder” has been blamed on the genes.

According to researchers at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, the ruthless behaviour of Hitler, Napoleon, Mussolini, Saddam Hussein, and Robert Mugabe may be attributed partly to their genes.

The researchers claim that they have discovered that a gene called AVPR1a is linked with ruthlessness, and that it may explain “the money-grabbing tendencies of those with a Machiavellian streak.”

The findings have been published in Genes, Brain and Behavior, a scientific journal published by the International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society in collaboration with Blackwell Publishing.

Richard Ebstein, lead researcher, wrote in Genes, Brain and Behavior that they conducted an economic exercise called the ‘Dictator Game’ with over 200 student volunteers.

The exercise, he continued, “allowed the participants to behave selflessly, or like money-grabbing dictators like former Zaire President Mobutu who filled in his pockets at the cost of its citizens. While the exact mechanism by which the gene influences behaviour was unknown, one could say that one some people just did not believe in the old adage that ‘it is better to give than to receive.”

Ebstein suggested that the “reward centres” in their brains might derive less pleasure from altruistic acts, leading money-grabbers to behave more selfishly.

In the study, the researchers exclusively focused on the called gene called AVPR1 as it is known to produce receptors in the brain that detect vasopressin, a hormone involved in altruism and “pro-social” behaviour. The researchers said they “wondered if differences in expression of this receptor in the human brain might make different people more or less likely to behave generously.”

The researchers at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, during the study, tested DNA samples from the participants before asking them to play the dictator game. The students were divided into two groups: ‘dictators’ and ‘receivers’ (called ‘A’ and ‘B’ to the participants).

Each ‘dictator’ was given 50 shekels (about US $14), and were told that they were free to share as much or as little of this with a receiver, whom they would never have to meet. The fortunes of the ‘receiver’ thus depended totally on the generosity of the ‘dictator.”

It was noticed that nearly 18% of the ‘dictators’ kept all of the money, about one-third split the money down the middle, and a generous 6% gave it all away.

According to Richard Ebstein, “while no link was found for this tendency to be gender-specific, it was dependent on the length of the AVPR1s gene, as people having the shorter version of this gene were more likely to behave selfishly. The vasopressin receptors in the brains of people with short AVPR1a might be distributed in such a way that it makes them less likely to feel rewarded by the act of giving.”

Based on the observations, Ebstein reached the conclusion that “the dictatorial tendencies certainly had a genetic component.”

ANI quoted Nicholas Bardsley at the University of Southampton, the United Kingdom, who studied the ‘Dictator Game,’ as saying that that “researchers should be careful while using such games as a tool for arriving at results regarding human generosity.”

Latest updates    Contact Us - Feedback    About Us  /  Society Archive 1, Archive 2 , Archive 3 and Archive 4