THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 27, 1994 TAG: 9411270093
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY THOMAS H. MAUGH II, LOS ANGELES TIMES
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
Behavior is ruled largely by genetics, scientists tell us. Our DNA guides whether we are hard-driving executives or moon-bedazzled poets, vigorous athletes or desk-bound accountants, even whether we go to church on Sundays or stay home.
Even our love lives are manipulated by puppet masters in our genes. Whom we love and when we love them - not to mention when we divorce them - are often as preordained as our height and hair color, researchers say.
But perhaps not how we fall in love.
Whether love slowly creeps up on us - or strikes fast and furious - may be one of the few aspects of relationships in which our parents' nurturing influence outweighs our genes, according to new research from psychologists at the University of California, Davis.
In a study of twins, published in the most recent issue of the journal Psychological Science, Niels G. Waller and Phillip R. Shaver have shown that genes play virtually no role in our approach to ardor, a surprising exception in an area that is increasingly seen as being ruled by inflexible DNA.
The genetics of behavior has proved a fertile field for research and publication in recent years. Most studies of personality indicate that about 50 percent of variability among individuals is attributed to genes, with a much smaller percentage resulting from parental influence and the rest arising from individual life experiences.
In the UC Davis study, Waller and Shaver studied 338 female and 107 male twin pairs identified through the California Twin Registry maintained at the university. About three-quarters of the subjects were identical twins, the rest fraternal.
Studying twins is the most common way to sort out the varying influences of nature and nurture. Identical twins share all of their genes, while fraternal twins, on average, share only half of them. If a trait is, in fact, genetic, identical twins should share that trait much more commonly than should fraternal twins.
To analyze each twin's ``love attitudes,'' the researchers used a well-established six-part scale devised by sociologist John A. Lee of the University of Toronto more than 20 years ago.
Lee assigned Greek names to the six dimensions of love - Eros, Ludus, Storge, Pragma, Mania and Agape. The contribution of each dimension to an individual's overall love attitude is determined by asking subjects how strongly they agree with a series of 50 questions that illustrate each component.
Those who score high on Eros, for example, place considerable value on love and passion, are self-confident, enjoy intimacy and self-disclosure and fall in love fairly quickly.
Those who score high on Ludus, in contrast, value the fun and excitement of romantic relationships, especially with multiple alternative partners. They are generally not interested in self-disclosure, intimacy or ``getting serious.''
The Davis researchers analyzed the answers for each subject to determine whether the individual profiles were related to genetics or family nurturing. Their overwhelming conclusion was that ``individual differences in romantic love are due almost exclusively to environment'' - how the child was raised.
The study, Waller said, is ``the first clear case where the environment . . resemblance. This is the first set of psychological variables that I know of where heritability plays such a small role.''
The researchers also interviewed the spouses of 172 of the twins and found that their views on romantic love were quite similar to their mates', a refutation of the adage that opposites attract. There were two major exceptions to that finding, however - those whose profiles fit in Mania (an indicator of obsession) and Ludus.
One interpretation, Waller said, is that when both partners avoid commitment (Ludus) or when both partners are dependent and jealous (Mania), it is particularly difficult to maintain a relationship.
The researchers speculate that love attitudes may not be the only trait controlled by a person's rearing. In a second study, still under way, Shaver is finding that loneliness is also more a product of nurture than nature. ILLUSTRATION: Color drawings
by CNB