The Relationship Between Dopamine D4 Receptor Gene And Empathy And Prosocial Behavior Under Gene-environment Interaction

Individual has its developmental plasticity,and is influenced by the environment differently as a function of inherent characteristics.The theory of gene-environment interaction is widely discussed in the field of psychology.Diathesis-Stress Model,Differential Susceptibility Mode and Vantage Sensitivity Model are the most popular gene-environment interaction models and have aroused lots of researches.Empathy,as the complex moral emotion,has an important predictive effect on prosocial behavior.Both the empathy and prosocial behavior are important topics in psychological research.Hence,the dopamine D4 receptor gene is an important candidate gene for empathy and prosocial behavior.The family environment,as an important environment for individual growth and development,also plays an important role in individual empathy and prosocial behavior.Therefore,based on the theory of gene-environment interaction,the current study aims to define the interaction effect between DRD4 and family context,so that to compare it with the existing gene-environment interaction model.The current study enrolled 574 healthy and unrelated college students,who were asked to finish the genetic test and three questionnaires,including Basic Empathy Scale(BES),Prosocial Tendencies Measure(PTM)and Parenting Style Index(PSI).Genetic test was performed by collecting oral mucosal cells from the subject.Hierarchical regression and Region of Significance were used for data analysis.The study finally drew the following conclusions:1)The interaction between DRD4-2r/7r and Psychological Autonomy Granting can significantly predict male students’ cognitive empathy and prosocial behavior.The interaction between DRD4-4r and Psychological Autonomy Granting can significantly predict the emotional empathy and prosocial behavior of male college students.The interaction between DRD4-4r and Acceptance/Involvement can significantly predict the emotional empathy of male college students.2)The interaction between DRD4-2r/7r and Psychological Autonomy Granting on male students’ cognitive empathy and prosocial behavior is consistent with the Vantage Sensitivity Model.For males,the DRD4-2r/7r carriers whose Psychological Autonomy Granting level is higher.their cognitive empathy and prosocial level were significantly higher than those of non-carriers.In low level of Psychological Autonomy Granting,there were no significant differences between carriers and non-carriers.3)The interaction between DRD4-4r and Psychological Autonomy Granting on male students’ emotional empathy is in line with the Vantage Sensitivity Model.For males,the DRD4-4r non-carriers whose Psychological Autonomy Granting are higher,their cognitive empathy and prosocial level were significantly higher than those of carriers.In level of Psychological Autonomy Granting,there were no significant differences between carriers and non-carriers.4)The interaction between DRD4-4r and Acceptance/Involvement on male students’ emotional empathy is consistent with the Vantage Sensitivity Model.For males,who without DRD4-4r grew up in a high level of Acceptance/Involvement environment,and their emotional empathy level was significantly higher than that of carriers.In the low level of Acceptance/Involvement,there was no significant difference between carriers and non-carriers.5)The interaction between DRD4-4r and Psychological Autonomy Granting on the prosocial behavior of male college students is consistent with the Differential Susceptibility Model.Male college students who without DRD4-4r grew up in a high level of Psychological Autonomy Granting environment,and their prosocial level was significantly higher than that of carriers.In the low level of Psychological Autonomy Granting,non-carriers are more prosocial than carriers.In summary,the significant interaction of DRD4-2r/7r,DRD4-4r and different dimensions of parenting style on individual empathy and prosocial behavior was only observed in male subjects.The gene-environment interaction model was consistent with Vantage Sensitivity Model or Differential Susceptibility Model,and there was no evidence for Diathesis-Stress Model.