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First law of Behaviour Genetics: All human behavioural traits are heritable. (As noted elsewhere, almost all.) I was watching an Aydin Paladin video, and IIR

First law of Behaviour Genetics: All human behavioural traits are heritable. (As noted elsewhere, almost all.) I was watching an Aydin Paladin video, and IIRC, she mentioned one study which found that genetic factors explained 41% of variation in infidelity and 38% variation in number of sexual partners. https://youtu.be/KET2JncpJ7o?t=1028 https://youtu.be/KET2JncpJ7o?t=1028 Cherkas, L. F., Oelsner, E. C., Mak, Y. T., Valdes, A., & Spector, T. D. (2004). Genetic influences on female infidelity and number of sexual partners in humans: a linkage and association study of the role of the vasopressin receptor gene (AVPR1A). Twin Research and Human Genetics, 7(6), 649-658. Another citation from that video: Garver-Apgar, C. E., Gangestad, S. W., Thornhill, R., Miller, R. D., & Olp, J. J. (2006). Major histocompatibility complex alleles, sexual responsivity, and unfaithfulness in romantic couples. Psychological Science, 17(10), 830-835. So much for the ideology of the Blank Slate. Atheism of the 2000's got this much right: Human beings are conscious and sentient, which is wonderful, but we are also animals subject to biology. That's just messy reality, and we'd best deal with it.

bduerst 8y ago
Did they control for regional cultural attitudes towards sex? For example, these genetic factors could correlate with people whose hereditary upbringing was in a more promiscuous culture, but not necessarily causing it. Edit: Your first citation says they didn't find a link between infidelity and genetics, but did with environment.
- stcredzero 8y ago
  Did they control for regional cultural attitudes towards sex? It was a twin study entirely within the UK. Edit: Your first citation says they didn't find a link between infidelity and genetics, but did with environment. I don't think that's correct. I think you are willfully reading what you want, and your paraphrase leaves out a key detail. Our findings demonstrate that infidelity and number of sexual partners are both under moderate genetic influence (41% and 38% heritable, respectively) and the genetic correlation between these two traits is strong (47%). Conversely, attitudes towards infidelity are driven by shared and unique environmental, but not genetic, influences. The study found that environmental factors shape attitude towards infidelity, but "infidelity and number of sexual partners are both under moderate genetic influence." https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/39d8/8c23b2535946c1a6be744805dc00e8bfee5e.pdf https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/39d8/8c23b2535946c1a6be7448...

bduerst 8y ago

Did they control for regional cultural attitudes towards sex? For example, these genetic factors could correlate with people whose hereditary upbringing was in a more promiscuous culture, but not necessarily causing it. Edit: Your first citation says they didn't find a link between infidelity and genetics, but did with environment.

stcredzero 8y ago
Did they control for regional cultural attitudes towards sex? It was a twin study entirely within the UK. Edit: Your first citation says they didn't find a link between infidelity and genetics, but did with environment. I don't think that's correct. I think you are willfully reading what you want, and your paraphrase leaves out a key detail. Our findings demonstrate that infidelity and number of sexual partners are both under moderate genetic influence (41% and 38% heritable, respectively) and the genetic correlation between these two traits is strong (47%). Conversely, attitudes towards infidelity are driven by shared and unique environmental, but not genetic, influences. The study found that environmental factors shape attitude towards infidelity, but "infidelity and number of sexual partners are both under moderate genetic influence." https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/39d8/8c23b2535946c1a6be744805dc00e8bfee5e.pdf https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/39d8/8c23b2535946c1a6be7448...