Unravelling the genetic and environmental influences on trust

Trust, a cornerstone of human interaction, has a significant genetic component, according to new research.

2024-02-21

(Press-News.org) Trust, a cornerstone of human interaction, has a significant genetic component, with around 33% of the variation between individuals attributed to our genes, according to new Australian research using data from twins and a meta-analysis of previous studies on the heritability of trust.

Successful relationships, economic transactions and social cohesion are all a matter of trust. Without trust, businesses collapse, political parties fail, and conflicts erupt, whether on a personal or international scale, resulting in broken hearts and lives lost.

“Higher levels of trust are associated with a range of social and economic benefits, so understanding the factors that influence our tendency to trust others could be used to improve community wellbeing,” said lead author Dr Nathan Kettlewell.

Dr Kettlewell, from the University of Technology Sydney, and Professor Agnieszka Tymula, from the University of Sydney, work at the crossroads of economics, psychology and neuroscience to investigate how heritable behavioural traits such as trust influence life outcomes.

Their study, Heritability across different domains of trust, was recently published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. It shows that trust is a complex trait that can be measured in a range of ways, including using twin studies.

“Twin studies are a powerful tool for disentangling genetic and environmental influences on complex traits, as they allow us to compare similarities in trust levels between identical twins, who share 100% of their genes, and fraternal twins, who share on average 50% of their genes,” said Dr Kettlewell.

“Our findings suggest that while genetic factors contribute around 33% to the variation in levels of trust observed among individuals, life circumstances such as being older, in better health and married or in a de facto relationship also increase trust,” he said.

The Australian component of the study enlisted 1120 twins and examined levels of trust using survey data to assess general trust and trust in politicians. Behavioural aspects of trust were measured using a trust game where participants are required to share money with another person.

“Trust is a trait that is difficult to define and measure, and it can also change across different domains. For example, someone might show high levels of trust in social relationships but low levels of trust in politics,” said Professor Tymula.

“Our results don’t imply that people with certain genes are doomed to be high or low in trust. However, when we reflect on our own behaviour, and that of people we know, it’s important to recognise that heritability is a component.

“This can affect how we see ourselves, and how we treat others. For example, recognising a person's distrust in politicians is partly due to the lottery of genes, we might come to appreciate why someone who grows up in similar circumstances can have such different beliefs.”

While the findings highlight the significant role of genetics in trust, it's crucial to recognise that environmental factors such as upbringing, cultural norms, and life experiences all interact with genetic predispositions to influence an individual's trust.

Understanding the foundations of trust opens up avenues for further research in fields such as economics, psychology, and sociology as well as practical applications aimed at fostering trust, cooperation, and social wellbeing across diverse contexts.

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

People who a eat healthy, plant-based diet are less likely to suffer with dangerous snoring

2024-02-21

People who eat a healthy, plant-based diet that is high in vegetables, fruit, whole grains and nuts are less likely to suffer with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), according to a study published today (Wednesday) in ERJ Open Research [1]. However, people eating an unhealthy plant-based diet, high in refined carbohydrates, sugary drinks, high-sugar and high-salt foods, are at a higher risk of OSA. People with OSA often snore loudly, their breathing starts and stops during the night, and they may wake up several times. Not only does this cause tiredness, but it can also increase the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The new study ...

Angle-dependent holograms made possible by metasurfaces

2024-02-21

The expression "flawless from every angle" is commonly used to characterize a celebrity's appearance. This doesn't simply imply that they appear attractive from a specific viewpoint, but rather that their appeal remains consistent and appealing from various angles and perspectives. Recently, a research team from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) has employed metasurface to fabricate angle-dependent holograms with multiple functions, capturing significant interest within ...

These tiny power converters run on vibrational energy

2024-02-21

University of California San Diego and CEA-Leti scientists have developed a ground-breaking piezoelectric-based DC-DC converter that unifies all power switches onto a single chip to increase power density. This new power topology, which extends beyond existing topologies, blends the advantages of piezoelectric converters with capacitive-based DC-DC converters. The power converters the team developed are much smaller than the huge, bulky inductors currently used for this role. The devices could eventually be used for any type of DC-DC conversation, ...

Ochsner Health Hospitals accredited as Surgical Review Corporation Centers of Excellence

2024-02-21

NEW ORLEANS, La – Ochsner Medical Center – New Orleans achieved accreditation as a Center of Excellence in Robotic Surgery, and Ochsner Baptist – A Campus of Ochsner Medical Center, inclusive of Ochsner Medical Center and Ochsner Medical Complex- Clearview, received accreditation as a Center of Excellence in Continence Care for Women by SRC (Surgical Review Corporation). This accreditation recognizes Ochsner Health’s commitment to a high standard of quality patient care delivery and safety. “Robotic ...

$2 million grant from The Roe Green Foundation catalyzes multidisciplinary research building in Uganda

2024-02-21

CLEVELAND--For the past 38 years, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) and University Hospitals (UH) have worked closely with a variety of institutions in Uganda to advance medical research and education across a range of fields. Their facilities have remained scattered across the campuses of local partners but now, the collaboration will have a permanent home. A $2 million gift from The Roe Green Foundation, jointly awarded to CWRU and UH, will advance global health initiatives from each institution and establish a state-of-the-art research hub and gathering ...

SFU researchers develop AI that can understand light in photographs

2024-02-21

Despite significant progress in developing AI systems that can understand the physical world like humans do, researchers have struggled with modelling a certain aspect of our visual system: the perception of light. “Determining the influence of light in a given photograph is a bit like trying to separate the ingredients out of an already baked cake.” explains Chris Careaga, a PhD student in the Computational Photography Lab at SFU. The task requires undoing the complicated interactions between light and surfaces in a scene. This problem is referred to as intrinsic decomposition, and has been ...

Minority ethnic NHS staff more likely to face workplace discrimination during pandemic than White colleagues

2024-02-21

Minority ethnic NHS staff were more likely to face workplace harassment, discrimination, and unavailability of personal protective equipment (PPE) than their White British colleagues during the pandemic, reveals research published online in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine. Urgent action is needed to redress ongoing race inequalities in the health service, insist the researchers, who call for the inclusion of diversity and inclusion training in professional development, and the expansion of the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard. Staff from minority ethnic groups make up nearly ...

J-shaped curve apparent between dietary thiamine and worsening mental acuity

2024-02-21

There seems to be a J-shaped curve between dietary thiamine (vitamin B1) and worsening mental acuity among cognitively healthy older people, suggests research published in the open access journal General Psychiatry. The sweet spot seems to be a daily intake of 0.68 mg, below which there is relatively little impact. But higher daily intake was strongly associated with cognitive decline, with the optimal maintenance dose 0.6 to less than 1 mg/day, the findings show. Thiamine is an essential water-soluble B vitamin involved in energy metabolism and brain neurotransmitter activity. Good dietary sources include whole grains, fortified ...

Adopting healthy lifestyle strongly linked to lower irritable bowel syndrome risk

2024-02-21

Adopting a healthy lifestyle is strongly linked to a lower risk of irritable bowel syndrome or IBS for short, finds research published online in the journal Gut. Of the big 5 healthy behaviours, not smoking, a high level of vigorous physical activity, and getting enough sleep were independently associated with keeping the condition at bay. Characterised by abdominal pain, bloating, and abnormal bowel habit, IBS is thought to affect up to 1 in 10 people worldwide. Exactly what causes IBS isn’t fully understood, but disordered functioning of the gut–brain ...

Avid appetite in childhood linked to later eating disorder symptoms

2024-02-21

An enthusiastic response to food in early childhood may be linked to a higher likelihood of experiencing eating disorder symptoms in adolescence, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL and Erasmus University Rotterdam. The study, published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, looked at survey data from 3,670 young people in the UK and the Netherlands to investigate how appetite traits in early childhood might relate to the likelihood of developing eating disorder symptoms up to 10 years later. The researchers found that a particularly high food responsiveness, defined as the urge to eat when you see, smell ...

Children who grow up with pets or on farms may develop allergies at lower rates because their gut microbiome develops with more anaerobic commensals, per fecal analysis in small cohort study

North American Early Paleoindians almost 13,000 years ago used the bones of canids, felids, and hares to create needles in modern-day Wyoming, potentially to make the tailored fur garments which enabl

Higher levels of democracy and lower levels of corruption are associated with more doctors, independent of healthcare spending, per cross-sectional study of 134 countries

Unravelling the genetic and environmental influences on trust

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: