Genes decide marital quality

Swedish researchers said Tuesday what women have suspected all along: that marital woes can often be attributed to men's genetic make-up, according to a study linking a common male gene to relationship problems.

The gene variant, which is present in four of 10 Swedish men, can explain why some men are more prone to stormy relationships and bond less to their wives or girlfriends, a team of researchers at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute said.

"There are, of course, many reasons why a person might have relationship problems, but this is the first time that a specific gene variant has been associated with how men bond to their partners," Hasse Walum, one of the researchers, said in a statement.

The team found that men who carry one or two copies of a variant of the gene often behave differently in relationships than men who lack the gene variant, called allele 334.

Men who had two copies of allele 334 were twice as likely to have had a marital or relationship crisis in the past year than those who lacked the gene variant, the statement said.

Their wives or girlfriends also noticed the difference.

"Women married to men who carry one or two copies of allele 334 were, on average, less satisfied with their relationship than women married to men who didn't carry this allele," Walum said.

The study surveyed 550 twins and their partners or spouses in Sweden.

Martin Ingvar, a professor of neurophysiology at Karolinska Institute, said the results were "very exciting."

"These are original findings which shed light on the fact that all of our behaviours are influenced by both nature and nurture. Even complex, cultural social phenomens such as marriage are influenced by a person's genetic make-up," Ingvar said.

The same gene has previously been linked to monogamous behaviour in male voles, a mouselike rodent.

The results of the study were published Tuesday in the US scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

婚姻不幸福？瑞典研究人员于本周二称，这往往是男性的基因组成在“作怪”。一项有关男性携带的某种基因与婚姻问题的研究证实了女性一直以来的怀疑。

斯德哥尔摩卡罗林斯卡学院的一组研究人员称，这种基因变体可以解释为什么有些男性与伴侣的关系不稳定、容易出轨。在10名瑞典男性中，有四人携带此种基因变体。

研究小组成员之一哈瑟•瓦卢姆在一份声明中说：“当然，婚姻出现问题可能有很多原因，但这是首次将某种特定的基因变体与男性对伴侣的忠贞度联系在一起。”

研究小组发现，携带一个或两个这种名为“334型等位基因变种”的男性与没有这种基因变种的男性相比，对待婚姻或感情的态度有所不同。

声明称，携带两个这种基因变种的男性在过去一年中出现婚姻或感情危机的几率为不携带这种基因变种男性的两倍。

他们的妻子或女友们也体会到了这种差别。

瓦卢姆说：“与不携带‘334型等位基因变种’男性的妻子相比，携带一个或两个此种基因变体男性的妻子对婚姻的满意度平均较低。”

该研究对瑞典550对双胞胎及他们的伴侣或配偶进行了调查。

卡罗林斯卡学院的神经生理学教授马丁•英格瓦说，研究结果十分“令人激动”。

他说：“这些最新发现让我们认识到，人的所有行为都受到先天和后天两大因素的双重影响。即便是婚姻这种复杂的文化社会现象也受到人基因组成的影响。”

此前有研究发现，334型等位基因与雄性田鼠对配偶的忠贞度有关。

该研究结果于本周二在美国美国国家科学院院报上发表。

Vocabulary:

all along:始终；一直