The data says yes and many of our behaviours can be predicted, including our choice of partner
Traits like eye colour and disease risk run in families and are influenced by our genetic makeup. But did you know that your genes also influence your behaviour?
But how do we know this? If you have grown up in the same environment as your parents and siblings, how do you know if that mannerism from Dad is inherited or learned?
Associate Professor Loic Yengo is analysing our genomes to find DNA variants that are associated with human behavioural traits.
“It turns out we can predict many behaviours such as the years of schooling that person is likely to have, their likeliness to migrate for opportunities, their propensity to smoke or take risks and their choice of mate,” he says.
Choosing a partner
“One of the classical assumptions in genetic studies is that people look for partners randomly in the population, but our analysis of genetic data shows that this isn’t true.”
Dr Yengo’s research has confirmed that most people choose partners who are similar to themselves.
“We know that the height of partners are correlated, though not extremely highly, for example, tall people tend to choose tall partners.
“And even if partners may not look like each other, they often have other similarities that may not be immediately obvious.”
Shaping the next generation
“I’m interested in these questions because our choice of mate shapes the next generation, including the likelihood of children having risk factors for disease. We can predict by how much social inequalities will increase if people tend to select partners with a similar level of education.”
But is this just a case of people choosing similar partners because that is whom we’re exposed to?
Interestingly, the answer is no.
A study in South Korea after the introduction of online dating found that the more choice people had, the more they chose partners who were similar to themselves. The same holds true in studies conducted by Dr Yengo and collaborators in European and Japanese people.
“While you may want to think your behaviour and choices are entirely your free will, your genes have more of a say than you think.”
