Tight-fistedness `could be in your genes`
London: Like generosity, tight-fistedness could be in your genes, say researchers.
A new study by the University of Bonn has found that one in four people carry a gene which appears to predispose people to parsimony. The gene -- called COMT -- comes in two variants, an `A` version and a `G` one.
For the study, the researchers recruited volunteers who were asked to gamble on a computer game in which they could donate their winnings to poor children in Peru.
They`re then shown an image of a girl called Lina and a bracelet which she had made.
The researchers found that the people with the `G` version gave away all their winnings while those with the `A` type -- dubbed the "mean gene" -- gave less than half.
The findings have been published in the latest edition of the `Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience` journal.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, November 04, 2010, 00:00
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