The BDNF Val66Met polymorphism impacts victim's moral emotions following interpersonal transgression

Bright side of the MAOA-uVNTR on trait and situational forgiveness

The stress-and-coping theory of forgiveness posits that forgiveness and aggression are alternative ways of coping with stress of interpersonal offences. Inspired by the link between aggression and MAOA-uVNTR (a genetic variant involving in catabolism of monoamines), we investigated the relationship between this variant and forgiveness with two studies. Study 1 examined the relationship between the MAOA-uVNTR and trait forgiveness in students, and study 2 examined the effect of this variant on third-party forgiveness in response to situational offences in male inmates. The results showed that the MAOA-H (a high activity allele) was associated with higher trait forgiveness in male students and greater third-party forgiveness to accidentally committed harm and attempted but failed harm in male inmates than the MAOA-L. These findings highlight the bright side of MAOA-uVNTR on trait and situational forgiveness.

The OXTR rs53576 Impacts Moral Permissibility of Attempted but Failed Harms in Populations of Students and Prisoners

Previous research has highlighted the roles of oxytocin in empathy and altruistic behaviors. Based on these findings, recent studies have examined the association between the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) and outcome-based moral judgment with sacrificial dilemmas (e.g. runaway trolley case). However, little is known about the relationships between OXTR polymorphisms and intent-based moral judgment of harms (e.g. attempted but failed harm or intentionally committed harm). This study investigated the association between the OXTR rs53576 and intent-based moral judgment in college students (N = 544) and prisoners (N = 540). Results indicated that both students and prisoners with the GG genotype of OXTR rs53576 rated attempted but failed harm as less permissible than those with the AA and AG genotypes. These findings highlight the role of the OXTR gene in intent-based moral judgment.