Oxytocin Receptor Polymorphism rs9840864 and Childhood Parental Attentiveness in Relation to Moral Foundations

Abstract

Previous research suggests that the distinctive frequency of the OXTR rs9840864 C allele in East Asia may reflect selection pressure exerted by cultural tightness. Building on this possibility, the present study reanalyzed Japanese data to examine whether this polymorphism is associated with individual differences in moral foundations and whether it interacts with childhood parental attentiveness to shape moral concern. Data were drawn from 416 Japanese undergraduates who completed measures of moral foundations and parental attentiveness and whose OXTR rs9840864 genotype was assessed. Main effects of OXTR were generally weak. However, lower parental attentiveness was associated with reduced concern for fairness overall, and for care specifically the detrimental effect of lower parental attentiveness emerged only among GG participants. These findings provide limited preliminary evidence that OXTR rs9840864 may moderate the association between childhood family environment and care-related moral concern.