Abstract
Polymorphisms in the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene are related to individual differences in negative emotions, such as depressive symptoms and anxiety. However, it remains unclear what the potential roles of OXTR polymorphisms are in subjective well-being (SWB), which is negatively correlated with depressive symptoms. We examined attributional styles as mediator between SWB and five polymorphisms of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR rs53576, rs2254298, rs1042778, rs2268494, and rs2268490) among 627 full-time college freshmen (M age = 20.90, SD = 0.82 for male; M age = 20.81, SD = 0.92 for female) using structural equation modeling. The results showed that individuals with the OXTR rs2254298 AA genotype and rs53576 AA/GA genotype reported higher scores on SWB, which suggested that individuals with this genotype experienced more happiness. Moreover, external attributional style partially mediated the association between OXTR rs2254298 polymorphism and SWB (β = 0.019, 95%CI [0.001, 0.036], p = 0.035). In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that the genetic variations of OXTR played a role in the individual differences of SWB, and external attribution style could mediate the association.
Highlights
Subjective well-being (SWB), popularly referred to as happiness or satisfaction (Diener, Oishi, & Tay, 2018), is defined as a person’s cognitive and affective evaluations of their life (Diener, 1984)
Life satisfaction was assessed with the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, and Griffin, 1985), and positive affect and negative affect were measured with the Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA) subscales from the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) (Watson, Clark, and Tellegen, 1988)
This study investigated the association between five oxytocin receptor (OXTR) polymorphisms: rs53576, rs2254298, rs1042778, rs2268494 and rs2268490, and individual differences in subjective well-being (SWB) and attributional styles
Summary
Subjective well-being (SWB), popularly referred to as happiness or satisfaction (Diener, Oishi, & Tay, 2018), is defined as a person’s cognitive and affective evaluations of their life (Diener, 1984). Lucht et al investigated the associations among OXTR polymorphisms, positive and negative affect, social and emotional loneliness, and intelligence in normal German subjects, and found that men with the AA genotype of OXTR rs53576 showed lower positive affect scores than those with other genotypes (Lucht et al, 2009) This view was supported by Saphire-Bernstein et al who demonstrated that OXTR rs53576 A-allele carriers showed lower optimism and higher self-reported depression among 326 students and employees of a large Western university (Saphire-Bernstein, Way, Kim, Sherman, and Taylor, 2011). The OXTR SNPs rs2268494 and rs2268490 were combined into a cumulative genetic risk index which could predict observed empathy during support-giving interactions in new lovers (Schneiderman et al, 2014) Together, these studies indicate that rs53576 and rs2254298 may be linked with individual differences in SWB. Given the inconsistency of findings on the genetic variants of SWB in different populations, our study may aid in understanding the relationship between attributional styles and SWB among Chinese college students from a genetic perspective
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