IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v22y2021i1d10.1007_s10902-020-00231-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Molecular Genetics of Life Satisfaction: Extending Findings from a Recent Genome-Wide Association Study and Examining the Role of the Serotonin Transporter

Author

Listed:
  • Bernd Lachmann

    (Ulm University)

  • Anna Doebler

    (University of Mannheim)

  • Cornelia Sindermann

    (Ulm University)

  • Rayna Sariyska

    (Ulm University)

  • Andrew Cooper

    (Goldsmiths, University of London)

  • Heidrun Haas

    (Ulm University)

  • Christian Montag

    (Ulm University)

Abstract

In a recent genome-wide association study (GWAS), three polymorphisms (rs3756290, RAPGEF6; rs2075677, CSE1L; rs4958581, NMUR2) were suggested as potentially being related to subjective-well-being and life satisfaction. Additionally, associations between the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism (serotonin transporter) and subjective well-being have been reported in other previous studies. In the current study, we therefore sought to further investigate the findings of the GWAS and examine the association between 5-HTTLPR and subjective well-being. A total of 1174 participants (821 females) were recruited and asked to provide information on their demographics, life satisfaction, and positive affect. All participants provided a genetic sample. We found associations between one SNP derived from the GWAS (rs4958581, NMUR2) and life satisfaction. We also replicated findings involving 5-HTTLPR and life satisfaction, but only for the housing, leisure and family life satisfaction variables, and not for overall life satisfaction or positive affect. Our study underlines that research investigating complex traits in the field of behavioral genetics is challenging due to their (a) pleiotropic and (b) polygenic effects, resulting in tiny effect sizes of each marker investigated. The current study also highlights the importance of investigating genetic markers of distinct areas of life satisfaction.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernd Lachmann & Anna Doebler & Cornelia Sindermann & Rayna Sariyska & Andrew Cooper & Heidrun Haas & Christian Montag, 2021. "The Molecular Genetics of Life Satisfaction: Extending Findings from a Recent Genome-Wide Association Study and Examining the Role of the Serotonin Transporter," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 305-322, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:22:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s10902-020-00231-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-020-00231-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-020-00231-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-020-00231-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas Siedler & Jürgen Schupp & C. Katharina Spiess & Gert G. Wagner, 2008. "The German Socio-Economic Panel as Reference Data Set," RatSWD Working Papers 48, German Data Forum (RatSWD).
    2. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve & James H. Fowler & Bruno S. Frey, 2010. "Genes, economics, and happiness," IEW - Working Papers 475, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
    3. Adam Shapiro & Corey Keyes, 2008. "Marital Status and Social Well-Being: Are the Married Always Better Off?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 88(2), pages 329-346, September.
    4. Magnus Johannesson & David I. Laibson & Sarah E. Medland & Michelle N. Meyer & Joseph K. Pickrell & Tõnu Esko & Robert F. Krueger & Jonathan P. Beauchamp & Philipp D. Koellinger & Daniel J. Benjamin &, 2016. "Genetic variants associated with subjective well-being, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism identified through genome-wide analyses," Post-Print hal-02017373, HAL.
    5. Bruce Headey & Ruut Veenhoven & Alex Wearing, 1991. "Top-down versus bottom-up theories of subjective well-being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 81-100, February.
    6. López Ulloa, Beatriz Fabiola & Møller, Valerie & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2013. "How does subjective well-being evolve with age? A literature review," FZID Discussion Papers 72-2013, University of Hohenheim, Center for Research on Innovation and Services (FZID).
    7. Nansook Park & E. Huebner & James Laughlin & Robert Valois & Rich Gilman, 2004. "A Cross-cultural Comparison of the Dimensions of Child and Adolescent Life Satisfaction Reports," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 66(1), pages 61-79, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Margot P. Weijer & Dirk H. M. Pelt & Lianne P. Vries & Bart M. L. Baselmans & Meike Bartels, 2022. "A Re-evaluation of Candidate Gene Studies for Well-Being in Light of Genome-Wide Evidence," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 3031-3053, August.
    2. Christoph K. Becker & Stefan T. Trautmann, 2022. "Does Happiness Increase in Old Age? Longitudinal Evidence from 20 European Countries," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 3625-3654, October.
    3. Nina-Sophie Fritsch & Bernhard Riederer & Lena Seewann, 2023. "Living Alone in the City: Differentials in Subjective Well-Being Among Single Households 1995–2018," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 2065-2087, August.
    4. Damian Sambuo & Stephen Kirama & Kitala Malamsha, 2020. "Analysis of Fish Landing Price on Subjective Wellbeing of Fishers Around Lake Victoria, Tanzania," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(5), pages 1823-1839, June.
    5. Yu-Chuan Chen & Yung-Ho Chiu & Tzu-Han Chang & Tai-Yu Lin, 2023. "Sustainable Development, Government Efficiency, and People’s Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1549-1578, April.
    6. John F. Helliwell & Haifang Huang & Max B. Norton & Shun Wang, 2019. "Happiness at Different Ages: The Social Context Matters," Springer Books, in: Mariano Rojas (ed.), The Economics of Happiness, chapter 0, pages 455-481, Springer.
    7. Violeta Misheva, 2016. "What Determines Emotional Well-Being? The Role of Adverse Experiences: Evidence Using Twin Data," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 17(5), pages 1921-1937, October.
    8. Menta, Giorgia & Lepinteur, Anthony & Clark, Andrew E. & Ghislandi, Simone & D'Ambrosio, Conchita, 2023. "Maternal genetic risk for depression and child human capital," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    9. Clemens Tesch-Römer & Andreas Motel-Klingebiel & Martin Tomasik, 2008. "Gender Differences in Subjective Well-Being: Comparing Societies with Respect to Gender Equality," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 85(2), pages 329-349, January.
    10. Chinyere Wille Ndata & Chima Promise Akunna, 2022. "Social Inclusion and Resilience as Predictors of Life Satisfaction Among University Undergraduates in Niger Delta Region of Nigeria," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 6(7), pages 458-464, July.
    11. O’Leary, Nigel & Li, Ian W. & Gupta, Prashant & Blackaby, David, 2020. "Wellbeing trajectories around life events in Australia," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 499-509.
    12. Efstratia Arampatzi & Martijn Burger & Elena Ianchovichina & Tina Röhricht & Ruut Veenhoven, 2018. "Unhappy Development: Dissatisfaction With Life on the Eve of the Arab Spring," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(s1), pages 80-113, October.
    13. Chia-Huei Wu & Lung Chen & Ying-Mei Tsai, 2009. "Investigating Importance Weighting of Satisfaction Scores from a Formative Model with Partial Least Squares Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 90(3), pages 351-363, February.
    14. Mihaela Angelova, 2024. "Changes in Determinants of Life Satisfaction of People Aged 50 and Over before and after the Outbreak of COVID-19," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 2, pages 114-138.
    15. Bruno S. Frey, 2011. "Subjective Well-Being, Politics and Political Economy," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 147(IV), pages 397-415, December.
    16. Biermann, Philipp & Bitzer, Jürgen & Gören, Erkan, 2022. "The relationship between age and subjective well-being: Estimating within and between effects simultaneously," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    17. Weiping Kostenko, 2009. "Does Labour Market Achievement Matter for the Wellbeing of Australian Immigrants? Culture and Gender Differences," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2009n21, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    18. Milena Nikolova & Sinem H. Ayhan, 2019. "Your spouse is fired! How much do you care?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(3), pages 799-844, July.
    19. De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel & Diener, Ed & Tay, Louis & Xuereb, Cody, 2013. "The objective benefits of subjective well-being," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 51669, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Gunvor Dyrdal & Espen Røysamb & Ragnhild Nes & Joar Vittersø, 2011. "Can a Happy Relationship Predict a Happy Life? A Population-Based Study of Maternal Well-Being During the Life Transition of Pregnancy, Infancy, and Toddlerhood," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 12(6), pages 947-962, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:22:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s10902-020-00231-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.