One Night Stands May Be Genetic 240
An anonymous reader writes "So, he or she has cheated on you for the umpteenth time and their only excuse is: 'I just can't help it.' According to researchers at Binghamton University, they may be right. The propensity for infidelity could very well be in their DNA. In a first of its kind study, a team of investigators led by Justin Garcia, a SUNY Doctoral Diversity Fellow in the laboratory of evolutionary anthropology and health at Binghamton University, State University of New York, has taken a broad look at sexual behavior, matching choices with genes and has come up with a new theory on what makes humans 'tick' when it comes to sexual activity. The biggest culprit seems to be the dopamine receptor D4 polymorphism, or DRD4 gene. Already linked to sensation-seeking behavior such as alcohol use and gambling, DRD4 is known to influence the brain's chemistry and subsequently, an individual's behavior."
Re:AIDs will cure that (Score:5, Insightful)
Try again.
Re:First post, for the umpteenth time (Score:5, Insightful)
So, he or she has cheated on you for the umpteenth time and their only excuse is: 'I just can't help it.'
If he or she is getting anywhere near "the umpteenth time" it's not a them problem, it's a you problem. If it happens once, forgiveness is certainly acceptable. If it happens twice forgiveness starts to become questionable. If it happens a third time, what the hell are you still doing with this person? Send them packing for Christ's sake.
Obviously this argument is based on the assumption that you have a moral objection to your significant other sleeping with other people. If not, then cheerio mate, say hello to your wife for me.
Knock it off with the oversimplification already. (Score:5, Insightful)
The media does not understand basic research [phdcomics.com]. In this case, we see its obsession of finding genes for behaviors; it almost never works that way.
Genes aren't smartphone apps; you can't just say "there's a gene for that."
Genes are more akin to code than to building blocks. A gene is more like a function than it is like a brick or mortar, and we have very little understanding of how genes interact with each other.
I'd like to give a "bravo!" to the authors for making the paper an open-access journal article. I know that's a hard sell to publishers. The full paper [plosone.org] is available to all without registration.
The paper itself explains the high chance that this is overblown:
It is also important to sound several notes of caution. First, a consistent challenge in genetic association studies are that of third variable confounds, or unmeasured variables that are causally responsible for the observed finding but are associated with the measured variables thus generating a spurious association. ...
Re:LIttle comfort (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm really unsurprised infidelity is a genetic thing. Is anyone? Guys who sleep around, have more kids. More kids means the same genes get spread around. I find it hard to believe anybody bothered to do a study on something so clear and logical, but I suppose even the most blatantly obvious of hypotheses need to be tested under the scientific method by somebody.
Re:First post, for the umpteenth time (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:First post, for the umpteenth time (Score:5, Insightful)
Why do so many people say that? In essence you're saying once is okay.
No, they're saying once is within the realm of reason to forgive someone that you really love and want to stay with.
They aren't saying cheating once is acceptable, they are saying forgiving once is acceptable. As in, they can accept someone forgiving their SO for cheating, once. And forgiving the great disrespect that cheating shows is not easy, and is not in any way saying it's "okay".
I've dumped women over once.... Screw that. I'm not that open-minded or forgiveness oriented.
You might feel differently if you weren't just dumping a girlfriend, but rather divorcing a wife and mother of your kids who you fully intended to spend the rest of time with and otherwise love with all your heart.
Or not. Maybe that's what you meant by 'dumped'. That's fine. But not everyone feels that way. Some people really do feel it's worth giving someone they love the chance to re-earn the lost trust and to show that they have changed.
And I can readily sympathize. But once the event repeats, and they demonstrate that they aren't going to change and once again violate trust before it is even re-earned, then it becomes quite hard to justify.