title: To Cheat or Not To Cheat: Tryptophan Hydroxylase 2 SNP Variants Contribute to Dishonest Behavior.
abstract: Although, lying (bear false witness) is explicitly prohibited in the Decalogue and a focus of interest in philosophy and theology, more recently the behavioral and neural mechanisms of deception are gaining increasing attention from diverse fields especially economics, psychology, and neuroscience. Despite the considerable role of heredity in explaining individual differences in deceptive behavior, few studies have investigated which specific genes contribute to the heterogeneity of lying behavior across individuals. Also, little is known concerning which specific neurotransmitter pathways underlie deception. Toward addressing these two key questions, we implemented a neurogenetic strategy and modeled deception by an incentivized die-under-cup task in a laboratory setting. The results of this exploratory study provide provisional evidence that SNP variants across the tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (TPH2) gene, that encodes the rate-limiting enzyme in the biosynthesis of brain serotonin, contribute to individual differences in deceptive behavior.
authors.affiliation: College of Economics and Management, Zhejiang University of TechnologyHangzhou, China; Department of Management Science and Engineering, School of Management, Zhejiang UniversityHangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Meijun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Teo
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Rationality, Hebrew UniversityJerusalem, Israel; Department of Economics, Hebrew UniversityJerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Eyal
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Winter
authors.affiliation: Philosophy, Politics and Economics Program, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Einav
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of SingaporeSingapore, Singapore; Lab for Behavioral Biological × Economics and the Social Science, National University of SingaporeSingapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Soo H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chew
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of SingaporeSingapore, Singapore; Lab for Behavioral Biological × Economics and the Social Science, National University of SingaporeSingapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Richard P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Ebstein
keywords: TPH2; lying; neurogenetics; serotonin; single-nucleotide polymorphism