Cargando…
Variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) is associated with differences in moral judgment
Moral judgments are produced through the coordinated interaction of multiple neural systems, each of which relies on a characteristic set of neurotransmitters. Genes that produce or regulate these neurotransmitters may have distinctive influences on moral judgment. Two studies examined potential gen...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Oxford University Press
2016
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5141955/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27497314 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsw103 |
_version_ | 1782472710383730688 |
---|---|
author | Bernhard, Regan M. Chaponis, Jonathan Siburian, Richie Gallagher, Patience Ransohoff, Katherine Wikler, Daniel Perlis, Roy H. Greene, Joshua D. |
author_facet | Bernhard, Regan M. Chaponis, Jonathan Siburian, Richie Gallagher, Patience Ransohoff, Katherine Wikler, Daniel Perlis, Roy H. Greene, Joshua D. |
author_sort | Bernhard, Regan M. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Moral judgments are produced through the coordinated interaction of multiple neural systems, each of which relies on a characteristic set of neurotransmitters. Genes that produce or regulate these neurotransmitters may have distinctive influences on moral judgment. Two studies examined potential genetic influences on moral judgment using dilemmas that reliably elicit competing automatic and controlled responses, generated by dissociable neural systems. Study 1 (N = 228) examined 49 common variants (SNPs) within 10 candidate genes and identified a nominal association between a polymorphism (rs237889) of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) and variation in deontological vs utilitarian moral judgment (that is, judgments favoring individual rights vs the greater good). An association was likewise observed for rs1042615 of the arginine vasopressin receptor gene (AVPR1A). Study 2 (N = 322) aimed to replicate these findings using the aforementioned dilemmas as well as a new set of structurally similar medical dilemmas. Study 2 failed to replicate the association with AVPR1A, but replicated the OXTR finding using both the original and new dilemmas. Together, these findings suggest that moral judgment is influenced by variation in the oxytocin receptor gene and, more generally, that single genetic polymorphisms can have a detectable effect on complex decision processes. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5141955 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2016 |
publisher | Oxford University Press |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-51419552016-12-08 Variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) is associated with differences in moral judgment Bernhard, Regan M. Chaponis, Jonathan Siburian, Richie Gallagher, Patience Ransohoff, Katherine Wikler, Daniel Perlis, Roy H. Greene, Joshua D. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci Original Articles Moral judgments are produced through the coordinated interaction of multiple neural systems, each of which relies on a characteristic set of neurotransmitters. Genes that produce or regulate these neurotransmitters may have distinctive influences on moral judgment. Two studies examined potential genetic influences on moral judgment using dilemmas that reliably elicit competing automatic and controlled responses, generated by dissociable neural systems. Study 1 (N = 228) examined 49 common variants (SNPs) within 10 candidate genes and identified a nominal association between a polymorphism (rs237889) of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) and variation in deontological vs utilitarian moral judgment (that is, judgments favoring individual rights vs the greater good). An association was likewise observed for rs1042615 of the arginine vasopressin receptor gene (AVPR1A). Study 2 (N = 322) aimed to replicate these findings using the aforementioned dilemmas as well as a new set of structurally similar medical dilemmas. Study 2 failed to replicate the association with AVPR1A, but replicated the OXTR finding using both the original and new dilemmas. Together, these findings suggest that moral judgment is influenced by variation in the oxytocin receptor gene and, more generally, that single genetic polymorphisms can have a detectable effect on complex decision processes. Oxford University Press 2016-12 2016-08-06 /pmc/articles/PMC5141955/ /pubmed/27497314 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsw103 Text en © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com |
spellingShingle | Original Articles Bernhard, Regan M. Chaponis, Jonathan Siburian, Richie Gallagher, Patience Ransohoff, Katherine Wikler, Daniel Perlis, Roy H. Greene, Joshua D. Variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) is associated with differences in moral judgment |
title | Variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) is associated with differences in moral judgment |
title_full | Variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) is associated with differences in moral judgment |
title_fullStr | Variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) is associated with differences in moral judgment |
title_full_unstemmed | Variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) is associated with differences in moral judgment |
title_short | Variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) is associated with differences in moral judgment |
title_sort | variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (oxtr) is associated with differences in moral judgment |
topic | Original Articles |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5141955/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27497314 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsw103 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT bernhardreganm variationintheoxytocinreceptorgeneoxtrisassociatedwithdifferencesinmoraljudgment AT chaponisjonathan variationintheoxytocinreceptorgeneoxtrisassociatedwithdifferencesinmoraljudgment AT siburianrichie variationintheoxytocinreceptorgeneoxtrisassociatedwithdifferencesinmoraljudgment AT gallagherpatience variationintheoxytocinreceptorgeneoxtrisassociatedwithdifferencesinmoraljudgment AT ransohoffkatherine variationintheoxytocinreceptorgeneoxtrisassociatedwithdifferencesinmoraljudgment AT wiklerdaniel variationintheoxytocinreceptorgeneoxtrisassociatedwithdifferencesinmoraljudgment AT perlisroyh variationintheoxytocinreceptorgeneoxtrisassociatedwithdifferencesinmoraljudgment AT greenejoshuad variationintheoxytocinreceptorgeneoxtrisassociatedwithdifferencesinmoraljudgment |