Study: Genes Make Women Cranky

[Ishbir 0]

Thanks for the lousy temper, Mom and Dad.

 

Genetics could explain why some women are more ill-tempered than others.

 

A new University of Pittsburgh study finds genetic variations that deal with the body's mood management chemistry are linked with anger, aggression and hostility in women.

 

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Indrani Halder and her colleagues had 550 European women complete two anger tests. One included 29 questions that measured physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger and hostility. Participants rated statements on a scale of 1, meaning "extremely uncharacteristic of me," to 7, "extremely characteristic of me," including the following:

 

Once in a while I can't control the urge to strike another person.

I flare up quickly but get over it quickly.

I have become so mad that I have broken things.

My friends say I am somewhat argumentative.

At times I feel I have gotten a raw deal out of life.

I know that "friends" talk about me behind my back.

Halder also used the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale on subjects, which consists of 50 true-false statements that get at a person's tendency to maintain negative attitudes.

 

Mood gene

 

The research team also collected data on subjects related to a gene that helps the body produce serotonin, a brain chemical that regulates emotions and moods, because previous studies have established that elevated serotonin is linked with lower aggression and anger in humans and other animals.

 

The genetic tests revealed whether the women had zero, one or two of the possible alterations in the promoter region of a specific serotonin receptor gene called 2C. A promoter region is a segment of DNA that helps control the expression of the gene, in this case serotonin.

 

Women who showed one or both of the genetic variations were more likely to score lower on the tests, meaning greater tendency toward aggressive and angry behaviors.

 

Not your fault

 

The results counter some common beliefs that women are to blame for their hostility. And genetic tests for anger could help predict a woman's likelihood of other anger-related diseases.

 

"Aggression and hostility are predictors of hypertension, glucose metabolism and heart diseases," Halder said. "The genetic marker we found for hostility also may be useful for predicting a person's predisposition to such diseases."

The findings were presented today at the annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society in Budapest, Hungary.

 

WARNING: TOPIC DESTINED FOR DELETION IN 2 DAYS UNLESS QUOTE IS SOURCED - Issued by: xboxrulz (03/17/2007)

[leafbunk 0]

Heh, as a chick, I found this article to be slightly funny. I think that in general women are far more fiesty and can be incredibly argumentative and challenging, compared to guys. While men usually show their agression through physical forms, or yelling, it seems far different from when women get upset. I mean....geez, sometimes girls just seem to go completely psycho when we get upset. We have an amazing ability to think up the most cruel schemes for payback and retaliation than guys usually do. Not to say guys aren't capable of the same sinister thinking and just plain psychotic mannerisms that girls seem to acquire when they're upset, but girls generally take the cake with that sort of stuff. I think that girls are more defensive than guys as well, but maybe that's just me. Guys seem quite casual in most situations, while girls have a tendency to become more emotional, defensive, aggressive, or hostile. It seems as well that females are worse at letting things go, too. Like...emotional things, such as fights. We hold grudges far too often. Heh, here I am, seeming to only be dissing my own gender and not saying anything positive about it....

[faulty.lee 0]

Why they only do the test on women? Should have done it to man as well as to have a proper comparison. Genes make women cranky. What about man? If it's the same, then this statement serve no purpose.