People who have a particular gene, scientists have found, are more likely to cheat on a romantic partner.
Read The love-cheat gene: One in four born to be unfaithful, claim scientists on DailyMail.co.uk.
Link supplied by a Lovefraud reader.
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How to recognize and recover from everyday sociopaths - narcissists
So this gene would make an individual have more liberal views AND be prone to cheating? And it makes someone twice as likely to cheat? Personally, it sounds like a load of rubbish to me. I don’t think “twice as likely” is statistically significant in my book.. considering all the other variables that could possibly affect whether one would decide to cheat or not. It’s so narrow an idea, because you have to take free will completely out of the question. If you cheat, it is a personal choice. No matter how strong your “urges” are, if that urge means more to you than keeping the trust of your loved one, that’s a personal issue. This is like Tiger woods relying on the “sex addiction” notion to somehow redeem his actions.. Keep in mind, I don’t think all cheaters need to be lambasted, if they are genuinely remorseful. Shit happens. However, no need to be looking for a “gene” to explain it all away. That’s misuse of science imho.
it’s like taking a gene and going, oh, this gene makes it twice as likely for people to like blueberries. Not only does it make it twice as likely for people to like blueberries, but also have less liberal views on use of pesticides on produce. Rubbish, right? Except liking blueberries doesn’t have those loaded associations so it’s less salient.
There is reliable evidence that some of the “personality traits” that make up the KIND OF PERSON who would “cheat” are genetic. There is a “gene” (or several) for people being more prone to “risky behavior” than other people, so that “gene” might be “TERMED” a “cheating” gene if the “risky” behavior was prone to be more sexual cheating etc.
What I am getting at is that though this particular article is “sensationalizing” the genetic link to “promiscuity” or “risky sexual behavior” there does seem to be some links between high risk taking and genetics, and other “typical “behavior of psychopaths, who are usually more apt to be HIGH RISK TAKERS.
Just as some people are more “prone” to be alcoholics because they lack certain hormones that process alcohol differently than for those that are less likely to become alcoholics….it is genetic but it doesn’t make them DO IT…it doesn’t EXCUSE them drinking either…they still have a CHOICE to drink or not. Frankly, psychopaths do have some genetic tendencies that make it harder for them to “bond” and to utilize oxytocin in their brains to attach to others, but they DO know right from wrong, and they have CHOICES in their behaviors, just like the “alcoholic” does. GENETICS may point the direction to some extent, but it does NOT force the person to go that direction in my not-so-humble opinion! LOL
Interesting article because I just met a woman whose mom was bipolar among other things but so abusive that she ran away from home at age 14. She put herself through school and now has a wonderful family, Meanwhile her moms family is so ill, they have had 3 suicides.
As we were talking, I asked her about her fear of a genetic component being expressed in her 2 children. She was joyful when she told me “no chance, I was adopted”. She has total peace about having none of “their bloodline”. As a sidenote, she fears that she was stolen no adopted since her mom used to work in a nursery and is severally impulsive.
This made me wonder if there have been any controlled studies on the incidence of spath tendencies in adopted offspring. This survivors story was amazing and what struck me was her strong mental strength and character at age 14, after being in this very toxic environment.
Makes you wonder more about the impact of Nature vs. nurture…this rings true in my personal case as well since the crazymaking that was being inflicted on me backfired. He was the one that had the mental break in the end.
yes, nobody “made” them do it. A gene didn’t “make them” do it. They do it because they choose to do it. As Kathy Krajco once said, you sure as hell know one knows right from wrong when one puts up a show of “goodness” to cover up the blatant “badness” ( excuse my using the word “badness” lol. )
Robert Hare said on the brains of psychopaths,
“Its quite possible that the differences we see, and this would apply to many tasks, that we use in the study of psychology, it may that the differences are the primarily the response of differences in strategy. It may be very well be that they can perform the task reasonably well, but using different parts of the brain. This isn’t to say they can’t use the appropriate parts of the brain, simply that they DON’T.”
( you have to think about this a little bit to draw associations. Brain differences between normal people and sociopaths? Oh, the brain differences must have made them do it! But no… not necessarily. )
He says the quoted material here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaTfdKYbudk ( it’s the last bit )
And kathy krajco ( she is a gem, which is why I always quote her. ) says on the brains of psychopaths :
( link to article ) http://narc-attack.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-brains-get-different.html
Excerpt ( by Kathy Krajco ) :
“So, let’s take a picture of your brain.
Oh how horrible! It’s different than a normal person’s brain. It is more “developed” in that area (= has more gray matter/connections).
Now we know why you gotta have all the milk in the world: your brain is malfunctioning.
NOT.
Your brain isn’t the cause of your need for all the milk in the world. Your need for all the milk in the world is the cause of your brain being different.
In other words, your habit of deliberately twisted thinking is what makes you need all the milk in the world every time you see something white.
It’s supposed to work that way. If it didn’t, you’d still be thinking at the level of a 2 or 3 year old. You wouldn’t be able to learn anything. You’d never make the connections between related ideas. You’d never get an idea from another idea. In short, you would be about brain dead.
And guess what? If, while you’re killing people to take away all their milk, you are repressing your human sensibilities, willfully not allowing yourself to feel any pity for them, forcing yourself to think instead in terms of cold-blooded logic “What is someone else’s suffering to me?” – if you do that, the part of the brain that houses your human sensibilities won’t get used much.”
In these examples i am slightly deviating from the original discussion on genes > behavior.. but as anyone should know, genes do not *determine* behavior. Sure, you may have a gene which makes you more likely to become an alcoholic, but just because you have the gene doesn’t mean you will become one. You make that choice yourself. It is deliberate. And comparing alcoholism to sociopathy is a bit of a stretch too, because sociopathy isn’t defined simply by an addiction, it is the basis for which every action is determined. A different “strategy”, as Robert Hare said.
One wouldn’t be able to blame *solely* the environment either.. there are millions of people in third world countries living in terrible environments.. you don’t see all of them becoming sociopathic. Child soldiers, and the like. They numb themselves for survival. Sociopaths don’t get that excuse, they numb themselves because they like to.
then determining a causal relationship for anything is difficult, and i think when articles like that are posted, they are more for shock value ( Like the association between ice cream and crime… when more ice cream is sold, the crime level is higher! Ice cream must cause people to become more aggressive! No… it is the heat that makes people want more ice cream, and also the HEAT that makes people more aggressive, or have less patience with others… it has an irritating effect )
Given with my saying this I don’t disagree that there is a genetic component ( though surely it can’t be said for all instances/cases ).. as in a genetic component which predisposes but does not make a person do anything. You always have a choice. Sociopaths are completely responsible for their actions. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
Again, I went from genes ( original topic ) to brain structures.. but i would hope that the point I was trying to make was understood. I hope that wasn’t too much of a leap. Sorry if I seem all over the place.
( I understand this may be a somewhat heated topic. But isn’t nature vs nurture always somewhat? I respect everyones personal views. These are mine. )
Given, Krajco’s father AND sister were both N’s. ( narcissistic personality disordered ) So the genetic component cannot be ignored, but still, cannot be pointed to as the basis of their actions.
Dear Flowerpower,
Yes, there have been studies of adopted children (both identical twins with identical genes, and faternial twins, and other children of people who were known psychopaths etc) and there is definitely a correlation between genetics and psychopathy in identical twins with identical genetics but different environments. For a long time the incidence of psychopathy and conduct disorder etc in adopted kids was put down to “environmental” differences of the kids knowing they were adopted, but finally, the “politically correct” notion of “all kids are born a blank slate upon which environment writes” was proven hokum!
Just as the famous “fighting bulls” of Spain have been bred for centuries to be aggressive and pit bull dogs have been bred to be aggressive and beagles have been bred to be submissive etc. humans are mammals. While we are not “bred” to lines of different traits, none the less, with modern medicine we have learned that the tendency to depression and bi-polar, alcoholism and drug addiction and other “mental” problems are genetic. Some can be treated and controlled but some like psychopathy can’t really be successfully treated at least in adults.
Oxytocin “the bonding hormone” receptors seem to be decreased in psychopaths which would account for the lack of bonding in these individuals which might increase their tendency to not regard others as “important.”
I have raised and bred animals for my entire life and I’ve seen personality, aggression, and other traits passed on in various lines of various species— genetics are not just about eye color and hair color, there are lots of thins that are influenced by genetics, including our anxiety, depression, tendencies for mood disorders, and aggressiveness.
Actually there are several good articles here and there are many good research articles about on-going research into the genetics and brain chemistry of psychopathy being studied as we speak.
ps. there is also research that indicates that many psychopaths are ALSO bi-polar and/or ADHD. Having one doesn’t mean you can’t have multiple diagnoses. Add in a poor environment and 2-3 disorders and you have a person with some serious issues!
Thanks Oxy. I know bipolar sufferers who are moral, productive people. In the case of my ex’s circles, “ruthlessness” , cunning and devaluation of WOMEN is admirable….along with a high regard for money, prestige and status. No I wasnt married to the mafia but in many ways it resembled that.
The value system plus a severely restrictive and punitive home environment,high expectations for “perfection” in every sense, spoiling in every sense and genetics created quite a conflicted person.
And there have been suicides and other mental tendencies in the family’s history. I am vigilant and watch for signs in our children. I do know that repeated conflict is a trigger..
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Many people who are Bi-polar are productive and wonderful people, but I also know psychopaths who are bi-polar AND also ADHD (the Trojan Horse P who was sent to kill me had all 3 professionally diagnosed) I have a wonderful friend who is bi-polar and is a medical professional who with medication lives a wonderfully productive life—I know others who are aggressive and psychotic (hearing voices and seeing visions) criminals who refuse to take medicaiton because they “like” the “high” they get when they are manic, it is almost like a “free high” on drugs.
Other psychopaths don’t seem to have either ADHD or Bi-polar, my P son is one of them. My “uncle monster” (my egg donor’s brother) was alcoholic, and psychopathic and I also think bi-polar as well, though he was never professionally diagnosed with bi-polar. I saw signs and symptoms of that (in retrospect) as he would periodically go for days without sleep and would drink continually during those times, as well as the fact that he would do a great deal of his abuse during those drunken rages.
It is recognized that bi-polar is somewhat genetically passed on, as well as ADHD. In my own family, and in my sons’ father ‘s family there are high numbers of ADHD, psychopathic traits, and alcoholism (even in children who were not raised by their abusive parents).
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