The arginine vasopressin V1b receptor gene and prosociality: Mediation role of emotional empathy.

The vasopressin V1b receptor (AVPR1B) gene has been shown to be closely associated with bipolar disorder and depression. However, whether it relates to positive social outcomes, such as empathy and prosocial behavior, remains unknown. This study explored the possible role of the AVPR1B gene rs28373064 in empathy and prosociality. A total of 256 men, who were genetically unrelated, non-clinical ethnic Han Chinese college students, participated in the study. Prosociality was tested by measuring the prosocial tendencies of cognitive and emotional empathy using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs28373064, was genotyped using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. The results suggest that the AVPR1B gene rs28373064 is linked to emotional empathy and prosociality. The mediation analysis indicated that the effect of the AVPR1B gene on prosociality might be mediated by emotional empathy. This study demonstrated the link between the AVPR1B gene and prosociality and provided evidence that emotional empathy might mediate the relation between the AVPR1B gene and prosociality.

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