25/01/2011, Players

The California Institute of Technology has conducted a new scientific research on gamblers. The study showed that people with the so-called “warrior genes” may carry better judgement when confronting with financial risks. The research was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.

The “warrior gene” is a mutation that seems to make players better at risky decisions. The gene variant MAOA-L gives people better judgement when they confront with financial risks (when they play poker games for example).

The study of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, led by Cary Frydman, associated the gene variant with lower production of the enzyme. Frydman analyzed the genes of 83 male volunteers aged between 19 to 27 and focused on three variations with particular emphasis on the MAOL-L “Warrior Gene”.

The 83 volunteers, from different ethnic backgrounds, were asked to perform a financial decision-making task a total of 140 times. Men were asked to choose between a sure option or a risky gamble.
Analysts say that, when faced with a potentially winning gamble, subjects who carried the MAOAL-L genes made the right choice more often than those with MAOA-H genes (subjects with higher levels of the enzyme).

"It shows that risky behaviour is not always counterproductive and it's not always suboptimal," Frydman said.