I en undersøgelse af 181 unge voksne fandt forskningen, at personer med mindst én 7-repeat allele (7R+) i DRD4-genet rapporterede en højere forekomst af promiskuøs adfærd og over 50% flere tilfælde af utroskab. Disse genetiske variationer kan delvist forklare individuelle forskelle i seksuel adfærd.
Titel på undersøgelse:
Associations Between Dopamine D4 Receptor Gene Variation with Both Infidelity and Sexual Promiscuity.
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Hele abstrakt på originalsprog:
Human sexual behavior exhibits significant variation both within and across populations, playing a key role in evolutionary theory through sexual selection, yet the genetic underpinnings of this diversity remain poorly understood. In a study involving 181 young adults, we administered an anonymous survey on sexual behavior and intimate relationships, collected buccal wash samples, and genotyped the variable number tandem repeats (VNTR) polymorphism in exon III of the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4), which has been linked to various behavioral traits. Our findings reveal that individuals with at least one 7-repeat allele (7R+) report higher rates of promiscuous behavior, such as having had a “one-night stand,” and a more than 50% increase in instances of sexual infidelity, suggesting that this genetic variation may influence motivation and reward pathways in the brain. Given the considerable global variation in DRD4 VNTR alleles and evidence of recent, localized selective pressures, we propose that these individual differences in sexual behavior could be partially explained by r/K selection theory, providing a potential mechanism for the evolutionary pressures acting for and against the 7R+ genotype.