Happiness is genetic, research finds

[Prison Mike]

Happiness can be inherited, research finds

Thu Mar 6, 10:44 AM ET

You can't buy happiness but it looks like you can at least inherit it, British and Australian researchers said on Thursday.
A study of nearly 1,000 pairs of identical and non-identical twins found genes control half the personality traits that make people happy while factors such as relationships, health and careers are responsible for the rest of our well-being.
"We found that around half the differences in happiness were genetic," said Tim Bates, a researcher at the University of Edinburgh who led the study. "It is really quite surprising."
The researchers asked the volunteers -- ranging in age from 25 to 75 -- a series of questions about their personality, how much they worried and how satisfied they were with their lives.
Because identical twins share the same genes and fraternal twins do not, the researchers could identify common genes that result in certain personality traits and predispose people to happiness.
People who are sociable, active, stable, hardworking and conscientious tend to be happier, the researchers reported in the journal Psychological Science.
"What this study showed was that the identical twins in a family were very similar in personality and in well-being, and by contrast, the fraternal twins were only around half as similar," Bates said. "That strongly implicates genes."
The findings are an important piece of the puzzle for researchers trying to better understand depression and what makes different people happy or unhappy, Bates said.
People with positive inherited personality traits may, in effect, also have a reserve of happiness to draw on in stressful times, he said.
"An important implication is that personality traits of being outgoing, calm and reliable provide a resource, we called it 'affective reserve,' that drives future happiness" Bates said.
(Reporting by Michael Kahn; Editing by Maggie Fox and Mary Gabriel)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080306/sc_nm/happiness_genes_dc

 

[turtlefocker]

ugliness is genetic and one of the only reason to be unhappy.

 

[SpideyVille]

My people have suffered for centuries. I guess that means I will suffer too. Then my children will suffer, then their children's children, and ...

 

[Carcharodon]

You know, some people don't like having things like happiness and other various emotions reduced to some chemical reaction. They think it devalues these emotions, and their lives on a larger scale.

I'm of the opposite disposition. I think it's wonderous that our genetic code can control so much about us on a level that was formerly attributed to having a, "soul." That fills me with more awe and wonder than the idea that these things come from some other, non-physical (i.e., spiritual) source.

 

[Lord Valumart]

goddamnit...now i have to find out who my parents are so i can tell them they suck for making me unhappy

 

[DV8]

this thread is depressing

 

[Carcharodon]

goddamnit...now i have to find out who my parents are so i can tell them they suck for making me unhappy

They'll just tell you that you were a mistake and ruined their lives.

...so, really, you're better off being miserable in silence.

 

[Hush]

I call BS! I think happiness is something that you attain over the course of your life and it is influenced by your peers and surroundings.

 

[Carcharodon]

I call BS! I think happiness is something that you attain over the course of your life and it is influenced by your peers and surroundings.

Yeah! There's no proof that there's any chemical basis for happiness!

Spoiler

When did they discover endorphins again?

 

[Hush]

Endorphins release an agent to calm us during time stress so we dont just die due to stress or anger. It does'nt make us happy.

 

[Dew k. Mosi]

Let's kill all the sad people and then the world will be a better place.

We can call it "The Great Emo Round Up of 2008"

 

[Carcharodon]

Endorphins release an agent to calm us during time stress so we dont just die due to stress or anger.

Endorphins were just an example. The point is that there is a very real chemical basis for happiness. It's not at all out of the realm of possibility that we can be born with a genetic predisposition to produce more or less (or different combinations) of chemicals and hormones that regulate happiness.

Besides, "stress," is a broad term that can actually encompass good things. You can have positive stressors. Getting a promotion at work, for example.

For you to call, "B.S.," on this is, in itself, B.S.

 

[SuBe]

Let's kill all the sad people and then the world will be a better place.

We can call it "The Great Emo Round Up of 2008"

 

[Carcharodon]

Let's kill all the sad people and then the world will be a better place.

We can call it "The Great Emo Round Up of 2008"

The logo will be a swastika composed entirely of penguins.

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

You know, some people don't like having things like happiness and other various emotions reduced to some chemical reaction. They think it devalues these emotions, and their lives on a larger scale.

I'm of the opposite disposition. I think it's wonderous that our genetic code can control so much about us on a level that was formerly attributed to having a, "soul." That fills me with more awe and wonder than the idea that these things come from some other, non-physical (i.e., spiritual) source.

It's not either/or.

To me it still suggests that your emotions are not "you", but that there is a higher self, a "soul".

Because a pregnant woman's hormones can go all screwy, and she flies off the handle and becomes irrationally emotional and chews your head off for nothing.

That's not "her". She doesn't change into a different person when this happens, and later, when the chemicals coursing through her body are more regulated, she may hear of how she was acting and laugh, or feel mortified, because her actions, her emotions, during those times, were not "her", or her real self's intention.


You can be a genetically gloomy person, but that doesn't mean that you are A GLOOMY PERSON, because, if you wake up one day, with a little more serotonin than usual, and you're uncharacteristically cheerful, that doesn't mean that you just turned into a different person.
You're still you, trapped in a body with 10 fingers, a pointy nose, brown eyes and certain genetic dispositions and your distinctive chemical make-up.

 

[TLH]

ugliness is genetic and one of the only reason to be unhappy.

Typical SSH response.

 

[Dew k. Mosi]

The logo will be a swastika composed entirely of penguins.

Ok, that's done, what else do we need

 

[The Avatar]

I'm not saying I wouldn't do it, but I'd have to be pretty drunk

 

[Carcharodon]

It's not either/or.

That's cool. Never said it was.

To me it still suggests that your emotions are not "you", but that there is a higher self, a "soul".

Because a pregnant woman's hormones can go all screwy, and she flies off the handle and becomes irrationally emotional and chews your head off for nothing.

That's not "her". She doesn't change into a different person when this happens, and later, when the chemicals coursing through her body are more regulated, she may hear of how she was acting and laugh, or feel mortified, because her actions, her emotions, during those times, were not "her", or her real self's intention.

Bolded portions: That's awfully contradictory. I think I see what you're trying to say, but that phrasing really doesn't help much.

You can be a genetically gloomy person, but that doesn't mean that you are A GLOOMY PERSON, because, if you wake up one day, with a little more serotonin than usual, and you're uncharacteristically cheerful, that doesn't mean that you just turned into a different person.
You're still you, trapped in a body with 10 fingers, a pointy nose, brown eyes and certain genetic dispositions and your distinctive chemical make-up.

Nobody's saying there isn't variation within an individual over time. That seems to be the basis for this entire portion of your post.

You can certainly have a predisposition to something genetically and not express it fully, or even at all. I'm sure there's a predisposition for many people to be alcoholics, yet somehow I doubt everybody with said predisposition is an alcoholic.

There are certainly outside influences (read: stimuli) that can alter the chemical state of your body (increased hormone production, etc). Still, the predisposition towards a certain demeanor can exist.

 

[Superman4ever]

Ok, that's done, what else do we need

Flippin' brilliant!

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

this **** is getting ridiculous. being an alcholoic is genetic,obesity is genetic, now happiness is genetic?! BS.

 

[Carcharodon]

this **** is getting ridiculous. being an alcholoic is genetic,obesity is genetic, now happiness is genetic?! BS.

All of those things refer only to the predisposition. A person who is at risk for alcohol addiction can never be alcoholic unless they take a drink.

Obesity is a bit more complicated. Given that hunger is regulated hormonally, there are certainly ways in which a person can be genetically inclined to eat more, and as their physiology changes as a result of their eating, their propensity to eat can be enhanced or just generally changed as well.

This can be avoided (in many cases, not all) just by teaching healthy habits, though. Crisis averted.

Still, the genetic predisposition is certainly there. It's not like they're just making this **** up, dude. There's a reason they think this is a possibility.

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

I don't believe in genetic predisposition unless its related to diseases. diabetes,history of fmaily with cancer,etc.


So am i lead to believe that all Koreans are genetically predisposed to eating dogs? come on!

 

[Carcharodon]

I don't believe in genetic predisposition unless its related to diseases. diabetes,history of fmaily with cancer,etc.

...do you know what genes do? Do you know anything about hormonal regulation? Do you know just how many bodily processes they control? Based on the above post, I'm gonna guess, "no."

I guess you really do think they're just making it up. Those silly scientists!

So am i lead to believe that all Koreans are genetically predisposed to eating dogs? come on!

...what? I think my brain just exploded.

 

[Arc-Light]

Wow, if this upsets some of you i hate to tell you what else is genetic.....