No Association between Oxytocin Receptor (OXTR) Gene Polymorphisms and Experimentally Elicited Social Preferences
Name
Apicella-2010-No Association betwe.pdf
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Author(s)
Cesarini, David Alexander
Apicella, Coren L.
Johannesson, Magnus
Dawes, Christopher T.
Lichtenstein, Paul
Wallace, Björn
Beauchamp, Jonathan
Westberg, Lars
Date Issued
June 2010
Journal
PLoS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Citation
Apicella, Coren L. et al. “No Association between Oxytocin Receptor (OXTR) Gene Polymorphisms and Experimentally Elicited Social Preferences.” PLoS ONE 5.6 (2010): e11153.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Background
Oxytocin (OXT) has been implicated in a suite of complex social behaviors including observed choices in economic laboratory experiments. However, actual studies of associations between oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene variants and experimentally elicited social preferences are rare.
Methodology/Principal Findings
We test hypotheses of associations between social preferences, as measured by behavior in two economic games, and 9 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the OXTR gene in a sample of Swedish twins (n = 684). Two standard economic games, the dictator game and the trust game, both involving real monetary consequences, were used to elicit such preferences. After correction for multiple hypothesis testing, we found no significant associations between any of the 9 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and behavior in either of the games.
Conclusion
We were unable to replicate the most significant association reported in previous research between the amount donated in a dictator game and an OXTR genetic variant.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0011153
