Citation

Butovskaya ML, Lazebny OE, Vasilyev VA, Dronova DA, Karelin DV, Mabulla AZ, Shibalev DV, Shackelford TK, Fink B, Ryskov AP. PLoS One 2015; 10(8): e0136208.

Affiliation

Department of Genome Organization, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Public Library of Science)

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0136208

PMID

26291982

Abstract

The androgen receptor (AR) gene polymorphism in humans is linked to aggression and may also be linked to reproduction. Here we report associations between AR gene polymorphism and aggression and reproduction in two small-scale societies in northern Tanzania (Africa)-the Hadza (monogamous foragers) and the Datoga (polygynous pastoralists). We secured self-reports of aggression and assessed genetic polymorphism of the number of CAG repeats for the AR gene for 210 Hadza men and 229 Datoga men (aged 17-70 years). We conducted structural equation modeling to identify links between AR gene polymorphism, aggression, and number of children born, and included age and ethnicity as covariates. Fewer AR CAG repeats predicted greater aggression, and Datoga men reported more aggression than did Hadza men. In addition, aggression mediated the identified negative relationship between CAG repeats and number of children born.

Language: en