No evidence for a relationship between MHC heterozygosity and life history strategy in a sample of North American undergraduates.
Sci Rep
; 10(1): 10140, 2020 06 23.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32576939
ABSTRACT
Although allelic diversity at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) has implications for adaptive immunity, mate choice, and social signalling, how diversity at the MHC influences the calibration of life history strategies remains largely uninvestigated. The current study investigated whether greater MHC heterozygosity was associated with markers of slower life history strategies in a sample of 789 North American undergraduates. Contrary to preregistered predictions and to previously published findings, MHC heterozygosity was not related to any of the psychological life history-relevant variables measured (including short- vs. long-term sexual strategy, temporal discounting, the Arizona life history battery, past and current health, disgust sensitivity, and Big Five personality traits). Further, no meaningful effects emerged when analysing women and men separately. Possible reasons for why the current results are inconsistent with previous work are discussed.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Students
/
Heterozygote
/
Major Histocompatibility Complex
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
Sci Rep
Year:
2020
Document type:
Article