一项最新研究发现，对个体而言，生活中的幸福感很大程度上会受到基因组合的影响。相关论文发表在3月的《心理科学》（Psychological Science）上。
进行该项研究的是英国爱丁堡大学和澳大利亚昆士兰医学研究所的心理学家。他们发现，一个人的个性品质部分决定着他（她）的幸福感，而这两者很大程度上都是可以遗传和继承的。
利用心理学上测定个性和人格的五因素模型（Five-Factor Model），研究人员发现，那些不过度忧虑、好交际且耿直尽责的人往往更加幸福。他们表示，这种个性组合在有坏事情发生时能够成为良好的“缓冲器”。
通过分析900对双胞胎的个性和幸福感数据，结合基因研究，研究人员发现，一些导致特定个性特征的人类共有基因能让人天生就更倾向于拥有幸福感。
这一结果表明，那些恰好拥有合理个性基因组合的幸运儿具有幸福感的“蓄水池”，即使当他们有压力时，幸福感也会召之即来。
不过，研究人员提醒，尽管最新研究发现幸福感植根于我们的基因中，但仍有大约50%的幸福感差异是受个体的外部因素比如人际关系、健康和事业状况影响的。
论文第一作者、爱丁堡大学的Alexander Weiss说，“对幸福的追求是人类欲望的一个核心。尽管它受到广泛的外部影响，但我们发现，幸福感具有可遗传的成分。而通过个性的遗传结构体系可以充分地解释这一问题。”（科学网 任霄鹏/编译）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
（Psychological Science），Volume 19 Issue 3 Page 205-210, March 2008，Alexander Weiss, Michelle Luciano
Happiness Is a Personal(ity) Thing: The Genetics of Personality and Well-Being in a Representative Sample
Alexander Weiss, Timothy C. Bates, and Michelle Luciano
Abstract
ABSTRACT—Subjective well-being is known to be related to personality traits. However, to date, nobody has examined whether personality and subjective well-being share a common genetic structure. We used a representative sample of 973 twin pairs to test the hypothesis that heritable differences in subjective well-being are entirely accounted for by the genetic architecture of the Five-Factor Model's personality domains. Results supported this model. Subjective well-being was accounted for by unique genetic influences from Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness, and by a common genetic factor that influenced all five personality domains in the directions of low Neuroticism and high Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. These findings indicate that subjective well-being is linked to personality by common genes and that personality may form an "affective reserve" relevant to set-point maintenance and changes in set point over time.
