Body Language Of Empathy Is Genetically Wired Say Scientists

Scientists have researched over the roles our genes play in determining our social behaviour. From this very informative article on MNT I learnt that there's a hormone produced by our hypohlamuses (brain) called  oxytoxin. As reported, "It (oxytoxin) has targets or receptors all over the body and also within the brain and plays a key role in female reproduction. It has also been linked to trust, love, bonding, reducing the impact of negative responses, and social recognition".

Scientists fom University of  University of California studied this hormone's effect on different people and found out that those having the GG cpmbination of oxytoxin receptor (amongst the AG AA or GG) were" most able to interpret others' emotions and showed the most empathic ability, while those with AA and AG combinations were less able to put themselves in the shoes of others and also were more likely to become stressed under pressure"

Researchers from University of Toronto at Mississauga in Canada carried out a very interesting experiment. They filmed 23 romantic couples. One amongst the couple had to express his feelings while the other one was being observed by researchers as a "listener". They observed his body language, facial expreesions etc and then compared the results with their blood tests (exposing AA oxytoxin receptors).

Kogan, Saturn (the lead researcher) and colleagues found that listeners carrying GG versions of the oxytoxin receptor gene were rated as more prosocial than those carrying AG or AA versions.

"People can't see genes, so there has to be something going on that is signaling these genetic differences to the strangers," Kogan told the press. "What we found is that the people who had two copies of the G version displayed more trustworthy behaviors - more head nods, more eye contact, more smiling, more open body posture. And it was these behaviors that signaled kindness to the strangers."

All info collected from the article mentioned above