What factors determine that someone falls in love and that their relationship bears fruit? Beyond the aspects that make a person attractive to us, such as their tone of voice, their incredible personality, their sense of humor or their beauty, a team of researchers from the Chinese universities of Henan and Beijing wanted to show that genetic variants They can contribute to us falling in love and our relationship being successful or not.
The experts conducted an experiment to test whether the 5-HT1A gene was related to the likelihood of a young adult being inclined to start a love affair , taking into account that in non-human animals the experiments decreased serotonin levels in the brain to through 5-HT1A receptor agonists, they reduced female sexual receptivity and induced aggression towards males.
To obtain answers in humans, the researchers had the participation of 579 university students . They collected hair samples from all of them to obtain their genotype. Once this was done, they amplified the 5-HT1A gene (made up of variants C and G) through the polymerase chain reaction, discovering that carriers of the G allele created less serotonin a than people with variant C. Therefore, students with genotype G were more likely to remain single .
Their results show for the first time the relationship between genes and love partners . “This is because carriers of the G allele are less comfortable in intimate relationships with others. In fact, G allele carriers are more likely to develop neurotic personalities and psychiatric disorders such as depression. Pessimism and neuroticism are detrimental to the formation, quality, and stability of relationships, and this connection between G allele disorders can decrease the chances of dating and the chances of success in a romantic relationship, “the authors explain to the journal Scientific Reports .
Comparing the results of the experiment with the real emotional situation of the participants, they discovered that 50.4% of people with genotype C had a partner; those with a CG or GG genotype, only 39%, confirming this link between genetic factors and affective affiliation .
