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Tue 15 Jun, 2004 09:52 am
Genes 'to blame for infidelity'
Some people may be genetically programmed to be unfaithful, a scientist claims.
Professor Tim Spector, of the Twin Research Unit at St Thomas's Hospital, London, says sutdies of twins suggest a genetic component to infidelity. If one of a pair of women twins has a history of infidelity, the chances her sister will also stray are about 55 per cent, he claims. And the tendendy for the pair to be either faithful of unfaithful is strongest in identical twins, who have the same genes, he says.
In general he claims the proportion of women as a whole who are unfaithful to their partners is around 23 per cent.
He stresses that genes alone do not make someone unfaithful, as social factors play an important role. But he says it makes good evolutionary sense to get a good mix of genes - so women may choose a better option if one comes along.
He also thinks it unlikely that infidelity is down to just one gene.
"But there are likely to be genes that participate in it, a number of genes working together," he told BBC Online.
This would explain why I do the things I do! I can't help it! I'm genetically predertermined! Now I'm going to ask out that waitress. Honey - don't expect me home for dinner!
And what about environment? Twins generally share a family.
Yes, it certainly runs in families, as I found to my cost after marrying into one! But that can be understood environmentally - patterns learned in childhood, etc. I think most of us could be unfaithful, maybe the gene that dominates in us is loyalty... so that infidelity doesn't really become worth the losses involved. Whaddya think?
Not so. As I have found infidelity is 100% caused by jumping some-one you are not married to!
That has to be the most elaborate excuse to the wife I've ever heard.
If anything genes are "to blame" for fidelity. Infideltiy is the norm and the natural state of nature. There are very few animals and, for that matter, very few humans that stick with one partner for life.
I am not knocking fidelity. It is an important part of my marriage. But fidelity is a cultural artifact that is somewhat unnatural.
In this context a "scientific" study that claims a genetic link to infidelity seems a bit strange.
Infidelity sure does run in my family. Grandfather, father, uncle, brother and now, seemingly, the nephew. It's not the genes, tho. It was learned behavior, deception, taught from a early age under the premise of "that's what men do."
There was some movie on Lifetime a while back with Kim Delany from NYPD Blue starring as a wife cheating on her husband and, according to the commercials for it, her behavior had something to do with what she learned from her father, who cheated on her mother. Did anybody see it? It seemed like she was blaming her father for her behavior. I kind of wanted to see it, to see how far they took that bs.
As I recall the study, it was about twins that were not raised together.
ahhh, different study.
This one was identical twins vs. non-identical twins.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3026332
Even so....environment is more identical for identical twins....
Have you seen Dlowan's thread on a closely related subject:
http://www.able2know.com/forums/about26862.html
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