Wu Nan, Su Yanjie
Teachers College of Beijing Union University, Peking University, Beijing, China.
School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Integr Zool. 2018 Nov;13(6):687-697. doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12336.
Humans are the most prosocial primate species and they often exhibit high levels of prosocial behavior toward genetically unrelated individuals. Traditional evolutionary theories are not sufficient to explain the individual differences and mechanisms related to prosociality. In this study, we focused on the gene-situation interaction in prosocial behaviors, and the patterns of genotype variance related to cooperation and comforting in different situations. We explored the interaction between the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene and situations, and the genotype variance under low and high prosociality situations between outgroup and ingroup recipients in a sample of 422 Chinese males. Prosociality was tested by measuring the prosocial tendencies, and prosocial behaviors were tested in cooperation and comforting tasks. OXTR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The results suggested that the relationship between OXTR SNPs (specifically rs13316193, rs1042778 and rs237887) and prosocial behavior varied across different situations, and that the associations were moderated by the recipient's identity and the prosocial cost. Our findings indicate the action of a moderating mechanism between the OXTR gene and prosocial behaviors according to situational factors.
人类是最具亲社会行为的灵长类物种，他们常常对基因上无亲缘关系的个体表现出高度的亲社会行为。传统进化理论不足以解释与亲社会行为相关的个体差异和机制。在本研究中，我们聚焦于亲社会行为中的基因 - 情境相互作用，以及不同情境下与合作和安慰相关的基因型差异模式。我们在422名中国男性样本中，探究了催产素受体（OXTR）基因与情境之间的相互作用，以及在对外群体和内群体接受者的低亲社会情境和高亲社会情境下的基因型差异。通过测量亲社会倾向来测试亲社会行为，并在合作和安慰任务中测试亲社会行为。使用聚合酶链反应 - 限制性片段长度多态性分析对OXTR单核苷酸多态性（SNP）进行基因分型。结果表明，OXTR SNPs（特别是rs13316193、rs1042778和rs237887）与亲社会行为之间的关系在不同情境中有所不同，并且这种关联受到接受者身份和亲社会成本的调节。我们的研究结果表明，根据情境因素，OXTR基因与亲社会行为之间存在一种调节机制。
