SMALL PRINT:ONE ALWAYS arches an eyebrow in the face of headlines proclaiming to have found a gene for a complex social or biological trait. So media reports of a "happiness gene" sent this eyebrow twitching madly in recent days.
The original paper wasn't online in the Journal of Human Geneticsat the time of writing, though a quick email to the appropriate press office provided a copy.
So what was this research about? Author behavioural economist Jan-Emmanuel De Neve from the London School of Economics trawled through an existing database of genetic data gathered from more than 2,500 adolescents in the US.
In particular the new study looked at variations in the promotor region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR), which is involved in transporting the chemical serotonin between brain cells.
The long version of the gene is more efficient.
The LSE research also looked at how participants had answered the question: “How satisfied are you with your life as a whole?”
And what they find? “The results showed that a much higher proportion of those with the efficient (long-long) version of the gene were either very satisfied (35 per cent) or satisfied (34 per cent) with their life – compared to 19 per cent in both categories for those with the less efficient (short-short) form,” states the LSE website. “Conversely, 26 per cent of those with the short-short allele were dissatisfied, compared to only 20 per cent of those with the long-long variant.”
But before we get ahead of ourselves, the paper states: “It is important to emphasize that there is no single happiness gene’.
“Instead, there is likely to be a set of genes whose expression, in combination with environmental factors, influences subjective well-being.”