Slashdot Mirror
Scientists Find Gene That Predicts Happiness In Women
An anonymous reader writes "For reasons that scientists have not conclusively determined, women are happier than men. And now, researchers think that they may have pinpointed one of the reasons for that. They have found a gene in women that predicts the level of happiness in women. 'After controlling for various factors, ranging from age and education to income, the researchers found that women with the low-expression type of MAOA were significantly happier than others. Compared to women with no copies of the low-expression version of the MAOA gene, women with one copy scored higher on the happiness scale and those with two copies increased their score even more. While a substantial number of men carried a copy of the "happy" version of the MAOA gene, they reported no more happiness than those without it.'"
For reasons that scientists have not conclusively determined, women are happier than men
Spoilers: It's the difficulty of getting laid. A woman only has to ask "Sex?"
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
The world is saved!
so maoa is going to be the new designer gene (jean).
That gene wouldn't happen to have an association with the one that allows for multiple orgasms in women, would it?
Now you can analyze your girlfriend's* DNA and see if she's only acting happy and would become miserable after marriage!
*Yeah this is Slashdot but the theory is sound
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
the gene is incredibly rare.
This gene wouldn't be the one responsible for blond hair, would it?
The investigators analyzed a group of 345 people -193 women and 152 men.
Wow, they got that result even though they analyzed only negative women.
After controlling for various factors, ranging from age and education to income
In other words, after ignoring the 9000 other variables that lead to happiness or lack thereof...
Anyone have a link to the actual numbers so we can see if they are finding trends in data noise or not?
There's such a thing as a happy woman?
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
it makes me unhappy. It's unfair. Lucky women. Life sucks. Leave me alone.
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Macy's is for clothes
Amazon.com is for 50 Shades of Gray
Overstock.com is for everything else
Avon is for makeup
sudo make me a sandwich
I always thought the gene that made women happy was what was in my pocket...
Get your mind out of the gutter! I meant in my wallet in my back pocket.
Now if Monsanto will just stick thing in their corn, it will make for a happier world!
in most states they don't have to put up with wives.
There's no women here and the residents don't have any form of interaction with them.
The picture I'm getting is that genetic tech and biochemistry is still in the dark ages. I mean, they have no idea how gene X works on a biochemical level, so they take a survey of people with gene X and ask how happy they are... and call that a study.
The good news is, once they figure this shit out and can accurately model all the biochemical reactions inside the human body, the possibilities are endless.
reproduction for females is costly and dangerous, reproduction for males is cheap
for a man any cooter will do, for a woman a specific wang is sought after
and historically the number of wanted wangs has been much smaller than the number of available cooters, roughly 20% of men
------------
in other words, yes random screwing is easier for women but that's irrelevant because that's not what women want, they want screwing by the small subset of desirable men and that is just as hard if not harder harder than a random man finding a random woman
Could this be a major contributor to the disparity in achievement between men and women? Women have achieved great things as scientists, CEOs, politicians, and in many other areas. Despite this, by and large, men strive for achievement more than women (as a group). Is it because men, on average, are less content? Could this be the primary motivating factor for men to achieve greater things than their predecessors? Perhaps men then to just "want it" more than women. I'm not denying that discrimination and disenfranchisement are contributing factors, but maybe they don't play as big a role as people think.
Is this Gene activated when I do the dishes or put my close in the hamper? Because I'm getting told it does by my wife and... oh I was just told I've used up my "internet" for the day...
Picture, height, weight, likes, MAOA results...
This gene only occurs when hubby/boyfriend/SO has lots of money...
Karma: Bad
Is there some new way science is able to quantify happiness? They can measure it?
Funny, I would have thought the gene would be called MIDOL
Tell my ex-girlfriend that. She was happy so long as she got her own way and if she wasn't happy, not only should I be unhappy but it also must have been my fault in some way.
Women - you can't live with them and you can't live with them. :-)
Have gnu, will travel.
One wonders what evolutionary advantage the high-expression version of this gene might have yielded.
"The MAOA gene regulates the activity of an enzyme that breaks down serontin (sic), dopamine and other neurotransmitters in the brain. The low-expression version of the MAOA gene promotes higher levels of monoamine, which allows larger amounts of these neurotransmitters to stay in the brain and boost mood."
You can understand why the low-expression form might be advantageous, but the high-expression form would seem to make one pretty much always depressed and hard to live with.
Predisposition toward being depressed does not immediately suggest any advantage in getting your offspring into the next generation, or even any advantage in ensuring your immediate survival, let alone attracting a mate.
The findings surprised the researchers, because that same gene has been linked to alcoholism, aggression and generally antisocial behavior.
Left unsaid is if this prior linkage was found in males or females. With testosterone being suspected to deactivate the low-expression version of MAOA, it might make sense that such a linkage toward aggression would be more likely to be found in males.
It would seem Cats must have a two copies of the low expression version.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
I think it goes something like V-I-S-A or A-M-E-X
we're morally obligated to attempt to genetically engineer happier women.
did they test genes in lesbian women? i'm pretty certain men are unhappy because we have to make women happy.
insensitive clod overlords obligatory xkcd car analogy russian reversals whoosh pedant fanbois ftfy in 3...2...1..PROFIT
No troll intended
But I wonder if this gene is activated or deactivated by the monthly increase or decrease in certain hormones.
Silence is a state of mime.
Well, this just proves even more than women are led by their emotions, down to the genetic level.
Where can I sign my wife up for gene therapy???
Careful now, this is how Reavers were created.
I thought they were the ones that don't make her ass look big... oh, genes... I thought you said jeans.
The real Sig captains the Northwestern. This one captains
They traced [the gene] to the low-activity form of monoamine oxidase A (MAOA). The findings surprised the researchers, because that same gene has been linked to alcoholism, aggression and generally antisocial behavior.
That does sound rather like some blonds I know...
Big apple, new Yorik, undig it, something's unrotting in Edenmark.
...and it looked like a very large princess cut diamond set in a bed of milk chocolate.
Gives a whole new meaning to the old saying, 'Take my wife, please!'
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Positive manipulation of the MAOA gene will help to Predict Happiness In Men
I'd be fascinated to learn what other characteristics this gene's presence (or absence) correlates with. Religiosity? Divorce? Teen pregnancy? Drug abuse? High IQ? High or low income? High or low education level? Conservatism or liberalism? Is it expressed more or less frequently among different ethnic groups?
not in the slightest.
insensitive clod overlords obligatory xkcd car analogy russian reversals whoosh pedant fanbois ftfy in 3...2...1..PROFIT
First post!
Does that make you happy?
Sally Albright: Most women at one time or another have faked it.
Harry Burns: Well, they haven't faked it with me.
Sally Albright: How do you know?
Harry Burns: Because I know.
Sally Albright: Oh. Right. Thats right. I forgot. Youre a man.
Harry Burns: What was that supposed to mean?
Sally Albright: Nothing. Its just that all men are sure it never happened to them and all women at one time or other have done it so you do the math.
The odds are the women were faking happiness during the study. You do the math. In the mean time, I'll have what she's having.
The MAO-A gene resides on the X chromosome. Therefore men can carry at most one copy of the gene. It is shocking that neither of the linked articles state this.
In fact, the second linked article is flat out wrong:
Interestingly, the gene did not hold the same correlation for men, who reported the same amount of happiness no matter if they had zero, one or two copies.
finally, the link between MAOA and SHOES
Yes. But I'm a man, so the gene is not involved.
...that "Gene" is the name of the woman's rich husband?
Happiness undoubtedly is largely a physiological characteristic of a person. The question is then, why didn't evolution sort the genes out so that we would be happy most of the time? The obvious answer is that happiness isn't a good thing for the survival of the individual.
I believe we were "created" to strive to be happy, but we weren't "meant" to be happy except for some fleeting, orgastic moments. Happiness is the carrot, suffering is the stick that propels us to survive and procreate. Pain is there to make us suffer but so is love, which is definitely not meant to make us happy but rather sacrifice our wellbeing for that of another individual.
Humans are constantly trying to cheat nature. Alcohol, opium, cocaine etc make us happy, so happy that we don't care if we starve, if we stink, if we contract a disease.
What scale is that? Maybe those women don't really are happy. Maybe they just have lower standards. How can we know?
Unfortunately, the article is behind a paywall.
I thought this sounded familiar.
MAOA = Monoamine Oxidase A.
MAOI = Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor, a common class of antidepressant.
So in people with low-expression (doesn't make much) genes for MAOA, they have less of this depression-causing gene, and are happier. For everyone else, have some of this over-prescribed medication!
This sounds very much like "research" which was heavily funded by a pharmaceutical company that makes lots of MAOIs.
Breaking news! People with fewer natural antidepressant genes are more depressed! Have some moclobemide!
The only interesting thing for me here is that these MAOA genes seem to only work as described in women.
The preceding comment is my own, and in no way construes an opinon of the Emperor of Mankind.
Yeah, they found the gene that determines happiness in women. Turns out that it's in the Y-chromosome, in the part that determines penis size in men.
Yes. But I'm a man, so the gene is not involved.
Actually, if you RTF article, you'd see it's having two copies of the gene that impacts it, not just one.
So, actually, second post is the winner. Or at least happier.
On the other hand, first post is probably so clueless that they don't realize that.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Good question. Unfortunately, genetic diversity in more isolated population groups is smaller, so it could be correlated with blond or red hair, in that these population groups originated in more genetically less diverse regions.
Africa, for example, has strong genetic diversity, so you couldn't really say anything about probability of someone having two copies of the gene there, whereas in Sweden or Norway or Iceland (areas with blonds and redheads) a less diverse population group might actually have women who are happier.
Or maybe they're just happier because, since men frequently left to go hunting or fishing for days on end, they got used to not giving a cr.p what the men thought and thus a "happier" group existed.
Also, since one might be more depressed with less than 2 copies of the gene (if female), you might do yourself in and thus not breed, giving an evolutionary advantage in remote areas to women with 2 copies of the gene.
(sorry, science here)
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Any word yet if there is a gene for low standards?
sadly the gene is 3 sizes too small and no one can fit into them.
Someone invents a chocolate phallus that ejaculates money.
So they've found the gene that controls breast size?
Except MAOI drugs are not common. They have some nasty side effects and are generally used as a last resort should pretty much every other type of antidepressant fails. The drug interactions with MAOIs is so severe that people who take them often carry a card in their wallet about MAOIs in case of an emergency.
Heck when on MAOIs you can't even eat cheese!
Hackman, depending on your age. Likely not Simmons (he's pretty misogynistic).
IANAD, so I will absolutely not say that you are wrong, but I was just reading the other day that that information is not current anymore. Current MAOIs aren't irreversible, so they have better-controlled effects.
The preceding comment is my own, and in no way construes an opinon of the Emperor of Mankind.
I want a body spray fragrance which mimicks to perfection the smell of money.
for $x in all $boyfriends
$total += size_of_wallet($boyfriend)
$happiness = sqrt($total)
It's called the Jordache gene.
a bitch!
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
Jesus christ. Are you really that paranoid? You know MAOI is an antidepressant (unless you believe the studies showing its effectiveness are made up), you know this gene has to do with MAO, and when a study shows that the gene is linked with happiness, your immediate conclusion is "it must be a fabrication"???
It must be strange to live in your world.
If women are happier then men why do they constantly nag, criticize, and belittle their boyfriend and/or husband and/or all men in general? I prefer the companionship of my dogs over any woman I have been involved with to date.
It is medical fact that mood can change with hormone levels, in both men and women.
It is also medical fact that due to the nature of the menstrual cycle, women have more frequent and powerful hormonal changes than most men.
That said, it makes me wonder if either A) The expression of this gene can change levels/rates of hormonal changes, or B) Hormonal changes can change the expression of this gene.
In either case it is knowledge, and of possible use of which could help people who already suffer from sever mood disorders, or severe PMS or both. Both of which are very real medical conditions.
So, my comment was intended to spark conversation about such matters, which I am admittedly not versed in, but I am not a misogynist. Loner yes, misogynist no. And I have a girlfriend. So take your cheap homonym of pseudonym and rant elsewhere.
Silence is a state of mime.
It's not trolling if he is sincere.
Flamebait perhaps, but not trolling.
That's because the source of most mens unhappiness is women, so it's hard to do a non-biased study when we can already mostly assume the second X gene is the problem.
Funny...I thought that it was likely because most women get their way in life paid for them...and if they move on to another one...they get half of the last guys stuff....
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
The MAO-A gene is also known as the 'Warrior Gene' because people with it tend to be more aggressive than people without it. Happiness and the lack of aggression would logically be correlated.
Interesting argument.
In the US, there are more women with 4 year degrees and more women with advanced (Masters, PhD, MBA) degrees than men, in the age cohort below 40. This is a recent phenomenon you may be unaware of, but it is real.
Thus, it would be normally true to state that, for most people 40 and under, it is in fact lower paid men who get their way paid for them by higher paid women.
Of course, this may be different depending on your age, the age of your peers, and the country in which you reside.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Women are happier than men? I just don't believe it. My experience is that about 80% of 'em are P.O.'ed about something 80% of the time. And if not P.O.'ed, then they're depressed about something. No sir, women are not happier than men. Men have the world by the a**, they know it, and true unhappiness usually is only experienced from major cataclysmic events, such as a death in the family, a serious illness, or a trip to prison. And for most of us guys, even those events can usually be overcome by a favorable change in circumstance - for me, I ended the depression caused by my brother's death (a drunk driver was responsible - not him) by winning a national sporting event (albeit after a year and a half of said depression.) But that's how shallow we are - just enough that happiness comes easier to us than to women.
while we're being misogynistic, here's a few more:
ignorance is bliss (assuming women in general are dumb)
when you ask a woman what's wrong, she says "nothing" and it really is equal to about nothing, but she's still upset anyway (assuming surveys are wrong, women aren't actually happier)
women aren't happy unless they're complaining (that one is just true =P )
don't bother getting mad at me, i'm gonna pay for this later. strictly for the lulz
insensitive clod overlords obligatory xkcd car analogy russian reversals whoosh pedant fanbois ftfy in 3...2...1..PROFIT
that makes woman release more dopamine in their brain?
In the US, there are more women with 4 year degrees and more women with advanced (Masters, PhD, MBA) degrees than men, in the age cohort below 40. This is a recent phenomenon you may be unaware of, but it is real.
Thus, it would be normally true to state that, for most people 40 and under, it is in fact lower paid men who get their way paid for them by higher paid women.
You're assuming that these higher paid women are with men, or only one man. For a small pool of highly paid men, there may be a larger pool of slightly less highly paid women who are playing musical chairs, or preferring to stand. Also, advanced degrees don't always translate to actual earnings.
1. Find random gene sequence.
2. Ask subjective question of test subjects
3. Correlate presence of gene with subjective answers
4. Tell news reporters half the story so they assume causation.
5. Profit!
Have they found the gene that makes them batshit crazy?
the LMAO gene responsible for happiness... what a surprise :p
Never antropomorphize computers, they do not like that
Funny post.
I just watched some piece about a meta-study on hapinness in the last 40 years.
Conclusion :
Women are less happier than men AND less happier as they age.
The exact opposite for men.
source : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhWwQfwkutY&feature=plcp
actually even having lower average education, men on average earn more because they tend more often to sacrifice personal/family life by working 80+ hours/week.
women prefer to be working as little as possible ( only 40-50 hour work weeks) and spend extra time on kids/private life/pets so in general earn less regardless of being more educated on average.
Since "happiness" is a completely internal and subjective emotional state unique to each individual that experiences it, I have great reservations that any discovery was made at all.
For not only is "happiness" completely subjective, but it is experienced in different ways at different levels in differing situations that are unique to each person. You cannot validly put a label on it or accurately measure it statistically.
The "research" is basically just a sampling of different people's opinions and personal definitions, not something that science can make claims on verifiably.
Well, obviously the genes can be manipulated by buying her an expensive handbag or a a pair of shoes.
But how did they get evidence that the woman is happier? Is it because she said she's happier?
What if it turns out more women lie about being happy than men?
They certainly do lie about more stuff than guys (most guys can't be arsed to lie about a lot of stuff - most of us don't care as much about what other people think, whereas more women do).
Lastly many women they are unhappy at least once a month for a few days. Even if things are going great otherwise.
But which one is it? The Kelly or the Hackman variation? Tell me as I need to set my priorities and both propositions differ dramatically!
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
Ir/reversibility just refers to the time frame of activity. Irreversible MAOIs deactivate the MAO enzyme permanently, so that your body won't break down monoamines until it has time to build entirely new enzymes from scratch (~2 weeks). Reversible MAOIs temporarily deactivate the enzyme, so that when the drug leaves the system (could be hours or days) the enzymes will begin functioning normally.
There are two variations of the enzyme, MAO-A and MAO-B - some MAOIs preferentially bind to one type or the other, but I think they are functionally identical, or nearly so. But the only difference between reversible and irreversible MAOIs is how long it takes your body to function normally when you stop taking it.
I'm not a doctor either, but as someone who's studied this extensively, in addition to going through treatment myself, and knowing others who have also gone to treatment, I feel qualified to say this: Modern psychiatric "best practice" is to prescribe SSRIs (or similar newish agents like SNRIs) as first-line treatment. Only if the patient fails to respond to SSRIs, are second- and third- line medications like MAOIs and tricyclics considered.
It's been this way for at least the last decade, maybe two. SSRIs first hit the scene in the late 80s/early 90s.
Now you can analyze your girlfriend's* DNA and see if she's only acting happy and would become miserable after marriage!
It's a lot easier than that. Just plan a wedding. Whatever she's like during that process is what she'll be like after marriage. Bridezilla == Wifezilla.
Then throw a screaming baby and some surging hormones into the mix.
Somebody kill me.
I am on it.
The wife
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Yes, one hundred ninety three. So, error bar @ 95% is 7% ( 0.98/sqrt(n) )
I'd like to know if the difference in "happiness measurement" is above this...
Otherwise, it's just like those latest political polls: they detect noise.
Herve S.
"For reasons that scientists have not conclusively determined, women are happier than men..."
Well, it's not like they NAG THEMSELVES.
--- Generation X: The first generation to have SIG lines inferior to their parents... ---
Was this research conducted in Stepford, CT ?
Aren't there other studies that say happiness come from being old, Republican, and *male*?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/18/happiness-is-being-old-ma_n_204619.html
What is the difference with these studies? I guess I'm too lazy to analyze it.
You know the only response needed was - 'yeah like f**k' right? right?
I just want to know how they calibrated their "Happiometer"
We are evolved to enjoy sex in ways that lead to healthy children, resulting in grandchildren and great-grandchildren and so on. As far as sexual desire goes, everybody is essentially trying to make babies even if they think they are not.
We evolved this way because sex meant babies prior to birth control. We will evolve to suit the new environment of course; we now must directly want babies rather than just sex. There already exist people in our population today with this trait. Someday, the trait will be essentially universal. Everybody will want kids passionately. People who merely like sex are failing to pass on their DNA.
The also a number of gender imbalances on the way to sexual maturity. Male sperm is lighter than female sperm. That means more zygotes become male. However, male zygotes are more likely to be rejected by a female host. (Although, female haemophilia is almost always rejected.) Males are less likely to die as a result of infanticide. Male babies are given more food and grow larger. However, young males find more ways of killing or maiming themselves. Then there is war and industrial accidents.
Overall, there's generally an adult male shortfall of about 15%. So, a woman may face the choice of choosing a poor male or none at all. And males can play a waiting game in this regard because female fertility can stop very suddenly - and even prematurely.
are either gay or will never get friendly with a vagina, why is this article posted here?