ArticleProgress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry2013
The MAOA gene predicts happiness in women.
Article in Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Investigating the Relationship between Exposures to Chemical and Non-Chemical Stressors during Prenatal Development and Childhood Externalizing Behaviors.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis examining the interrelationships between chemical and non-chemical stressors and inherent characteristics in children with ADHD.Environmental research · 2020Pooled it
- Genetics of wellbeing and its components satisfaction with life, happiness, and quality of life: a review and meta-analysis of heritability studies.Behavior genetics · 2015Pooled it
- A systematic review of the neural correlates of positive emotions.Revista brasileira de psiquiatria (Sao Paulo, Brazil : 1999)Pooled it
- Bridging life satisfaction data and neurobiological measures would elucidate human well-being.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Two paradoxes in women's well-being.Science advances · 2025Review
- Relationship between perceived material living conditions and subjective health and wellbeing as moderated by personal attributes in a representative sample of Nigerians.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- MAOA uVNTR Polymorphism Influence on Older Adults Diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus/Systemic Arterial Hypertension.Journal of aging research · 2023Article
- Happiness in University Students: Personal, Familial, and Social Factors: A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Survey.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- A Re-evaluation of Candidate Gene Studies for Well-Being in Light of Genome-Wide Evidence.Journal of happiness studies · 2022Article
- The Gender Life Satisfaction/Depression Paradox.Social indicators research · 2022Article
- The clinical value and potential molecular mechanism of the downregulation of MAOA in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues.Cancer medicine · 2020Article
- Subjective Health and Happiness in the United States: Gender Differences in the Effects of Socioeconomic Status Indicators.Journal of mental health & clinical psychology · 2020Article
- Physical Activity and Brain Health.Genes · 2019Review
- A genetic perspective on the relationship between eudaimonic -and hedonic well-being.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- Lack of association between MAOA-uVNTR variants and excessive daytime sleepiness.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2017Article
- Sex differences modulating serotonergic polymorphisms implicated in the mechanistic pathways of risk for depression and related disorders.Journal of neuroscience research · 2017Review
- The analysis of anxiety and mood in healthy late-reproductive-stage women with regard to hormonal and genetic factors.Archives of women's mental health · 2016Article
- Happiness & Health: The Biological Factors- Systematic Review Article.Iranian journal of public health · 2014Article
- Biological pathways, candidate genes, and molecular markers associated with quality-of-life domains: an update.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2014Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Psychologists, quality of life and well-being researchers have grown increasingly interested in understanding the factors that are associated with human happiness. Although twin studies estimate that genetic factors account for 35-50% of the variance in human happiness, knowledge of specific genes is limited. However, recent advances in molecular genetics can now provide a window into neurobiological markers of human happiness. This investigation examines association between happiness and monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) genotype. Data were drawn from a longitudinal study of a population-based cohort, followed for three decades. In women, low expression of MAOA (MAOA-L) was related significantly to greater happiness (0.261 SD increase with one L-allele, 0.522 SD with two L-alleles, P=0.002) after adjusting for the potential effects of age, education, household income, marital status, employment status, mental disorder, physical health, relationship quality, religiosity, abuse history, recent negative life events and self-esteem use in linear regression models. In contrast, no such association was found in men. This new finding may help explain the gender difference on happiness and provide a link between MAOA and human happiness.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.