Here’s How a Woman’s Genes Can Determine If She’ll Stay Faithful
Turns out cheating just might be in her genes.
Hello, friends! Today we’re here to talk about genetics and relationships, which is actually a very interesting field, and has a lot more to do with your relationships than you’d expect, so pay attention.
First off, let me list a few things that are not influenced by genetics:
- Tea versus coffee preferences.
- If you agree that “Hotel California” is the best song of all time.
- If you find that romper for dudes to be idiotic or not.
And here is a list of things that are genetic:
- Having a big nose.
- Hair color.
- Predisposition to heart disease.
- If you cheat on your partner.
Yup, cheating. Apparently, cheating on your partner just might be genetic! Who knew?
According to recent research, there seems to be a link between specific mutations of the receptor gene for the hormone vasopressin and infidelity…in women only. Not men.
Hmm…I think I’ll nickname this genetic component of infidelity the “Homie-Hopper Gene,” only because it’s fitting.
Anyway, vasopressin is a hormone that plays a role in trust and empathy levels, and helps us bond with people around us, and moderates our social behavior and sexual motivation, so it kind of makes sense that mutations in the receptors would be associated with infidelity.
Apparently, mutations in the receptors for vasopressin might alter its entire function, therefore changing the way the hormone influences behavior.
For instance, in a woman without the mutation, the hormone helps facilitate empathy and bonding with a partner, whereas in a woman with the mutation, it doesn’t really do shit. She can’t properly feel empathy towards her man, and therefore might cheat on him. Aww, so sad.
To discover this pressing information, a team of scientists from the University of Queensland in Australia, led by Dr. Brendan P. Zietsch, studied a massive sample of 7,378 people who had been in a relationship in the past year, and found that 9.8 percent of the men and 6.4 percent of the women reported cheating on their partner.
Next, the researchers collected saliva samples and sequencing genomes, and began putting two and two together to find out if there truly is a relationship between genetics and infidelity.
The results showed that there is a significant relationship between five variants of the vasopressin gene and infidelity in women, but not in men. Interesting…
After taking other factors such as environment and development into account, the scientists concluded that about 40 percent of the variation in cheating behavior in women was genetic.
“We found significant genetic influences accounting for around half the variation in extra pair mating in both sexes, confirming biological underpinnings to the behavior,” the authors said.
However, the researchers adamantly pointed out that their findings require more research to fully back up the claims, so it’s best to take these findings with a large grain of salt.
But guess what? A different team of scientists also had this deep, dark feeling that, aside from genetics, infidelity was also linked to something more material – money. Cold, hard cash.
From common sense, we’re already under the impression that wealthy men are more likely to cheat on their partners relative to the average Joe. But how true is this belief?
Well, according to sociologist Christin Munsch from Cornell University, it’s completely true.
Munsch looked at the income levels of young couples, and discovered that dudes who were highly independent, a.k.a. had some deep-ass pockets, were more likely to cheat on their partners.
Interestingly, though, the opposite was also true, wherein dudes who were living paycheck-to-paycheck and were more or less dependent on their female counterparts, were also five times more likely to cheat. Sad.
So, it looks like dudes will cheat if they’re poor or if they’re rich, but not so much if they’re just middle class. In women, however, it was found that dependency breeds fidelity, again proving that men are from Mars, and women are from Venus
H/T: Medical Daily
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