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Genetics Affects "Empathy Quotient"

posted by mrpg on Tuesday March 13 2018, @12:45AM   Printer-friendly
from the I-like-you dept.

takyon writes:

Genes have a role in empathy, study says

It helps us to make close connections with people, and influences how we behave in a range of situations, from the workplace to a party. Now scientists say empathy is not just something we develop through our upbringing and life experiences - it is also partly inherited.

A study of 46,000 people found evidence for the first time that genes have a role in how empathetic we are. And it also found that women are generally more empathetic than men.

[...] Participants in the study had their "empathy quotient" (EQ) measured with a questionnaire, and gave saliva samples for DNA testing. Scientists then looked for differences in their genes that could explain why some of us are more empathetic than others. They found that at least 10% of the differences in how empathetic people are is down to genetics.

Varun Warrier, from the University of Cambridge who led the study, said: "This is an important step towards understanding the role that genetics plays in empathy. But since only a tenth of the variation in the degree of empathy between individuals is down to genetics, it is equally important to understand the non-genetic factors."

The genomic data came from 46,861 23andMe users.

Genome-wide analyses of self-reported empathy: correlations with autism, schizophrenia, and anorexia nervosa (open, DOI: 10.1038/s41398-017-0082-6) (DX)

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday March 13 2018, @02:46AM (5 children)

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Tuesday March 13 2018, @02:46AM (#651646) Journal

    And what nation was most infamous for pushing eugenics the hardest? The whole "Master Race" thing? And the gas chambers to purge the "genetically unfit" from society? Hardly even needed to Godwin this story. Practically Godwinned itself.

    Starting Score:    1  point
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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @03:42AM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @03:42AM (#651666)

    Read and weep at your history:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics_in_the_United_States [wikipedia.org]

    Eugenics was widely accepted in the U.S. academic community.[7] By 1928, there were 376 separate university courses in some of the United States' leading schools, enrolling more than 20,000 students, which included eugenics in the curriculum.

    http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/unwanted-sterilization-and-eugenics-programs-in-the-united-states/ [pbs.org]

    Beginning in 1909 and continuing for 70 years, California led the country in the number of sterilization procedures

    Know your history... Or am I a terrorist now?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @08:06AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @08:06AM (#651722)

      Nazis take note, eugenics leads to Californication!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @10:27AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @10:27AM (#651755)

        Leave 'em alone. Fapping sessions do not make babies.

        Self-curing problem. Not worth the trouble to pontificate over.

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by c0lo on Tuesday March 13 2018, @08:23AM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 13 2018, @08:23AM (#651732) Journal

      Know your history... Or am I a terrorist now?

      Pedantic note: not mutually exclusive.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @03:34PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 13 2018, @03:34PM (#651847)

      The devil has shown his ugly head:

      Post no: (#651666)