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Genetic factors influence empathy

Results of a large genome-wide association study on empathy revealed that genes play a small role in empathy, and that these genetic variations associated with empathy affect psychiatric conditions — such as autism, schizophrenia and anorexia — and psychological factors.

“Because empathy difficulties are found in a range of psychiatric conditions, it is an important phenotype for investigation,” Varun Warrier, MPhil, PhD student from the department of psychiatry, Autism Research Center, University of Cambridge, U.K., and colleagues wrote in Translational Psychiatry. “Understanding the biological networks that partly determine empathy may help us understand how it contributes to psychiatric phenotypes, an approach that has been used for other traits such as neuroticism, creativity and cognitive ability.”

Researchers used the Empathy Quotient to systematically examine the genetic factors relating to empathy among 46,862 customers of 23andMe. Participants completed the online Empathy Quotient and provided saliva samples for genetic analysis. The investigators extracted DNA from salvia samples then genotyped them on one of four different platforms — V1, V2, V3 and V4.

Although researchers detected 11 suggestive loci, none were significant after correcting for testing. The most significant single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was observed in the nonstratified analysis and in an intronic SNP in TMEM132C. Researchers also identified a heritability of 0.11 ± 0.014 for the Empathy Quotient.

The results demonstrated that women were significantly more empathetic than men. Researchers observed no significant differences in heritability and high genetic correlation between the sexes. There was a significant negative correlation between autism and empathy observed in the genetic make-up of the participants (P = 1.63 × 10⁴). Other psychiatric conditions and psychological traits related to empathy were schizophrenia (P = 1.36 × 10⁵), anorexia nervosa (P = 6 × 10⁴) and extraversion (P = 5.7 × 10⁸). However, only 10% of the differences in empathy are due to genetic factors, according to Warrier.

“It will be equally important to understand the nongenetic factors that explain the other 90%,” Warrier said in a press release.

"Finding that even a fraction of why we differ in empathy is due to genetic factors helps us understand people such as those with autism who struggle to imagine another person's thoughts and feelings,” senior author Simon Baron-Cohen, PhD, MPhil, director at the Autism Research Center at the University of Cambridge, said in the release. “This can give rise to disability no less challenging than other kinds of disability, such as dyslexia or visual impairment. We as a society need to support those with disabilities, with novel teaching methods, work-arounds or reasonable adjustments to promote inclusion.” – by Savannah Demko

Disclosures: Baron-Cohen and Warrier report no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.