The secret to a long and happy marriage is… in your genes. New research from Yale School of Public Health suggests that the secret sauce to keeping a marriage together is a genetic variation known as the GG genotype within the oxytocin gene receptor. In scientific terms, OXTR rs53576. How they discovered this has been published in the journal PLOS One. In a nutshell, couples who reported the most joy in their union had one thing in common, that particular strand of the genotype.
Lead author Joan Monin explained in a press release:
“This study shows that how we feel in our close relationships is influenced by more than just our shared experiences with our partners over time. marriage, people are also influenced by their own and their partner’s genetic predispositions.”
The Study
- 178 married couples ranging in age from 37 to 90 years old went through a series of questions to gauge the degree of each couple’s marital bliss. The survey focused on their feelings of marital security and satisfaction.
- A sample of saliva was collected from each individual for genotyping.
Results
- When at least one partner had a genetic variation known as the GG genotype within the oxytocin gene receptor, the couple reported significantly greater marital satisfaction and feelings of security within their marriage.
- Couples who had different genotypes were less satisfied.
Good To Go?
This may seem like the answer to all the problems… If you’ve got the genes you’re good to go! But it’s not necessarily so. An individual’s GG genotype and their partner’s GG genotype together account for about 4 percent of the variance of marital satisfaction. So, the other 96 percent is still hard work and shared values. There’s no easy way out of this one!
Genes alone can’t save a marriage from the stresses of real life, they only offer a slight natural advantage. OXTR rs53576 isn’t specifically designed to make you the perfect partner. How it really works is that the genotype is linked to qualities that make us better humans in general.
There have been other studies that linked the oxytocin receptor variant, OXTR rs53576 to personality traits such as emotional stability, empathy, and sociability. However, this new study examines its role specifically in marital satisfaction. These personality traits are linked to a phenomenon they call “anxious attachment” where feelings of low self-worth, painful sensitivity to rejection and constant need for approval lead to problems in a marriage.
Anxious Attachment
What exactly is anxious attachment? It is a style of relationship insecurity that develops from past experiences with close family members and partners over the life course, and is associated with diminished self-worth, high rejection sensitivity, and approval-seeking behavior, said Monin.
OXTR rs53576 may play a role in smoothing over-anxious attachment and thus reduce the risk that one spouse will feel that they have married a giant baby. The researchers found that people with the GG genotype reported less anxious attachment in their marriage, obviously benefitting their relationship.
Attachment Security
Researchers note in the study, the opposite of anxious attachment is attachment security — which “plays an essential role in effective communication, problem-solving, and social support and it is a strong predictor of marital satisfaction over time.” As mentioned before, the gene only accounts for 4 percent of the harmony, or attachment security. Yet, although this percentage is small, it is a significant influence considering other genetic and environmental factors to which couples are exposed.
What we don’t know is how these genes affect single people. The study only compared the genes and satisfaction levels of married couples. It may be the case that single people with the GG genotype are happier being single too. As always, more research is needed.
