Some folks just can`t help being nice, study suggests
Baku, April 21 (AZERTAC). Being nice may be in your genes. That`s according to a new study that found that genes are at least part of the reason why some people are kind and generous.
Researchers at the University at Buffalo and the University of California, Irvine assessed the behavior of people with different versions of receptor genes for two hormones -- oxytocin and vasopressin -- believed to make people nicer.
"The study found that these genes combined with people`s perceptions of the world as a more- or less-threatening place, to predict generosity," principal author Micheal Poulin, an assistant professor of psychology at the University at Buffalo, said in a university news release. "Specifically, study participants who found the world threatening were less likely to help others -- unless they had versions of the receptor genes that are generally associated with niceness."
Poulin explained that the "nicer" versions of the receptor genes "allow you to overcome feelings of the world being threatening and help other people in spite of those fears."
The study was released online in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the journal Psychological Science.
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