The interaction between parental care and the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene affect social behaviours in adulthood. However, conspecifics socially act towards the real and virtual world in displaying multiple and complex social interactions. Hence, the mechanisms underlying the virtual social relationship in humans remain largely unknown. Here, we hypothesized interaction between genetic factors (oxytocin receptor, OXTR) and parental bonding patterns (Parental Bonding Instrument) in shaping virtual social behaviour (Instagram). A self-reported questionnaire was used to evaluate participants’ (n = 173; 115 females) parental bonding in childhood (Parental Bonding Instrument, formed by the four subscales Maternal Care, Paternal Care, Maternal Overprotection, Paternal Overprotection) while social media activities on Instagram were collected applying an automatic Python algorithm through which four indexes were extracted: the number of following users, followers, posts and tags from other users’ posts. To assess participants’ genetic predispositions, buccal mucosa cell samples were collected, and regions rs2254298, rs53576 were genotyped. We found multiple gene * environment interactions on a number of Instagram followers by running eight ANOVAs and correcting the p-value by the number of the tests. For rs53576 two significant effects of the interaction between 1) maternal care, genotype, age and between 2) paternal overprotection, genotype, age were respectively found. For rs2254298 two significant effects of the interaction between 1) maternal care, genotype, age and between 2) paternal care, genotype, age were found. These effects could represent an indirect pathway through which genes and parental behaviour interact to shape social media interactions.
Genetic predispositions and parental bonding interact in modulating Instagram social behaviour in humans
Bonassi, Andrea;Cataldo, Ilaria;Lepri, Bruno;
2019-01-01
Abstract
The interaction between parental care and the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene affect social behaviours in adulthood. However, conspecifics socially act towards the real and virtual world in displaying multiple and complex social interactions. Hence, the mechanisms underlying the virtual social relationship in humans remain largely unknown. Here, we hypothesized interaction between genetic factors (oxytocin receptor, OXTR) and parental bonding patterns (Parental Bonding Instrument) in shaping virtual social behaviour (Instagram). A self-reported questionnaire was used to evaluate participants’ (n = 173; 115 females) parental bonding in childhood (Parental Bonding Instrument, formed by the four subscales Maternal Care, Paternal Care, Maternal Overprotection, Paternal Overprotection) while social media activities on Instagram were collected applying an automatic Python algorithm through which four indexes were extracted: the number of following users, followers, posts and tags from other users’ posts. To assess participants’ genetic predispositions, buccal mucosa cell samples were collected, and regions rs2254298, rs53576 were genotyped. We found multiple gene * environment interactions on a number of Instagram followers by running eight ANOVAs and correcting the p-value by the number of the tests. For rs53576 two significant effects of the interaction between 1) maternal care, genotype, age and between 2) paternal overprotection, genotype, age were respectively found. For rs2254298 two significant effects of the interaction between 1) maternal care, genotype, age and between 2) paternal care, genotype, age were found. These effects could represent an indirect pathway through which genes and parental behaviour interact to shape social media interactions.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
