Your genes predict how satisfying your first years of marriage will be, study suggests

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Your genes predict how satisfying your first years of marriage will be, study suggests
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Your DNA may predict the quality of your relationships.

A 2014 study linked certain variants of the gene CD38 to higher rates of gratitude, which researchers called the "behavioral and psychological 'glue' to bind individuals closer together."

To follow up on that research, a recent study, conducted at the University of Arkansas, examined the same gratitude gene variant to explore if there was a connection between DNA and satisfaction in the first years of marriage.

The report, published in Nature Scientific Reports, examined the CD38 gene variant in DNA pulled from the saliva samples of 142 newlyweds three months after being married. The couples also answered a survey every four months for three years about how satisfied they were in their marriage.

Certain genes are linked to trust, forgiveness, and gratitude

The findings suggest people with the CC variant of the CD38 gene - the gene linked to more gratitude - were more likely to report higher trust in their partner, more likely to forgive their partner, and more satisfied in their marriages than people with the AC/AA variant. People with the AC/AA variant were less likely to express gratitude and feel gratitude toward their partner.

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Lead author Anastasia Makhanova told Science Daily while this doesn't doom people with AC/AA variants of the CD38 gene to an unhappy marriage, it does mean these individuals have to watch out for problems related to expressing gratitude to their partners.

"It's just that they're more likely to have issues in some of these domains, and so those people might have to work a little bit more in those domains," she told the publication.

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