ArticlePloS one2010
Associations between dopamine D4 receptor gene variation with both infidelity and sexual promiscuity.
Article in PloS one, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The Genetics of Risk Aversion: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Serotonin and Dopamine Gene Variation and Theory of Mind Decoding Accuracy in Major Depression: A Preliminary Investigation.PloS one · 2016Trial
- Genetic Predisposition and Infidelity: From Molecular Variation to Relationship Behavior-A Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- A Hypersexuality Subset Behavior Induced by Aripiprazole Overdose in an Antipsychotic Naïve Patient: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.Clinics and practice · 2026Article
- Sex differences in compulsive sexual behavior disorder.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2026Review
- Corticostriatal cocaine-seeking ensembles are defined by differing gene expression from sucrose-seeking ensembles using a within-subject dual self-administration and seeking mouse model.Addiction neuroscience · 2025Article
- Opioid-Induced Hyperalgesia and Inflammaging in the Management of Spine Pain: The Case for Genetically Directed Dopamine Homeostasis.International journal of spine surgery · 2025Article
- The sexual selection of creativity: A nomological approach.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Review
- IsPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- The etiology of maternal postpartum depressive symptoms: Childhood emotional maltreatment, couple relationship satisfaction, and genes.Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43) · 2021Article
- DRD4 Allele Frequency as a Lab Exercise in Neuroscience and Genetics Courses.Journal of undergraduate neuroscience education : JUNE : a publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience · 2021Article
- Male Ejaculatory Endophenotypes: Revealing Internal Inconsistencies of the Concept in Heterosexual Copulating Rats.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2020Article
- After the Honeymoon: Neural and Genetic Correlates of Romantic Love in Newlywed Marriages.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Article
- The dopamine-related polymorphisms BDNF, COMT, DRD2, DRD3, and DRD4 are not linked with changes in CSF dopamine levels and frequency of HIV infection.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2017Article
- Molecular Signatures of Natural Selection for Polymorphic Genes of the Human Dopaminergic and Serotonergic Systems: A Review.Frontiers in psychology · 2016Review
- Review
- Review
- Increased brain activity to unpleasant stimuli in individuals with the 7R allele of the DRD4 gene.Psychiatry research · 2015Article
- Impulsive delayed reward discounting as a genetically-influenced target for drug abuse prevention: a critical evaluation.Frontiers in psychology · 2015Review
- Dopamine receptor gene d4 polymorphisms and early sexual onset: gender and environmental moderation in a sample of african-american youth.The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHuman sexual behavior is highly variable both within and between populations. While sex-related characteristics and sexual behavior are central to evolutionary theory (sexual selection), little is known about the genetic bases of individual variation in sexual behavior. The variable number tandem repeats (VNTR) polymorphism in exon III of the human dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4) has been correlated with an array of behavioral phenotypes and may be predicatively responsible for variation in motivating some sexual behaviors, particularly promiscuity and infidelity. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
findingsWe administered an anonymous survey on personal history of sexual behavior and intimate relationships to 181 young adults. We also collected buccal wash samples and genotyped the DRD4 VNTR. Here we show that individuals with at least one 7-repeat allele (7R+) report a greater categorical rate of promiscuous sexual behavior (i.e., having ever had a "one-night stand") and report a more than 50% increase in instances of sexual infidelity. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: DRD4 VNTR genotype varies considerably within and among populations and has been subject to relatively recent, local selective pressures. Individual differences in sexual behavior are likely partially mediated by individual genetic variation in genes coding for motivation and reward in the brain. Conceptualizing these findings in terms of r/K selection theory suggests a mechanism for selective pressure for and against the 7R+ genotype that may explain the considerable global allelic variation for this polymorphism.
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