新发现：有没有同理心可能与基因有关

It helps us to make close connections with people, and influences how we behave in a range of situations, from the workplace to a party.

它有助于我们与人们建立密切联系，并影响我们在从工作场所到派对的各种情况下的表现。

Now scientists say empathy is not just something we develop through our upbringing and life experiences - it is also partly inherited.

现在科学家说同情不只是我们通过我们的成长和生活经历而发展起来的 - 它也是部分遗传的。

A study of 46,000 people found evidence for the first time that genes have a role in how empathetic we are.

一项对46,000人进行的研究首次发现，基因对我们的同理心发挥了作用。

And it also found that women are generally more empathetic than men.

而且研究还发现，女性通常比男性更有同理心的能力。

Empathy has an important role in our relationships.

同理心在我们的关系中起着重要的作用。

It helps us recognise other people’s emotions and it guides us to respond appropriately, such as by knowing when someone is upset and wants to be comforted.

它有助于我们认识其他人的情绪，并引导我们做出适当的反应，例如知道他人何时感到不安，并希望得到安慰。

It is largely considered to be something we develop through childhood and our life experiences.

这在很大程度上被认为是我们通过童年和我们的生活经历而发展起来的。

But in this new paper, published in the journal Translational Psychiatry, scientists looked to see if how empathetic we are can be traced to our genes.

但是在这篇发表在《转化精神病学》杂志上的新论文中，科学家们探索了我们的同理心是何如追溯到我们的基因的。

Participants in the study had their "empathy quotient" (EQ) measured with a questionnaire, and gave saliva samples for DNA testing.

该研究的参与者通过问卷测量了他们的“情商”（EQ），并给出了唾液样本进行DNA测试。

Scientists then looked for differences in their genes that could explain why some of us are more empathetic than others.

然后科学家们在他们的基因中寻找差异，以解释为什么我们中的一些人比其他人更有同理心。

They found that at least 10% of the differences in how empathetic people are is down to genetics.

他们发现，至少有10％的同理心差异归因于遗传基因。

Varun Warrier, from the University of Cambridge who led the study, said: "This is an important step towards understanding the role that genetics plays in empathy.

领导该研究的来自剑桥大学的Varun Warrier说：“这是了解遗传基因在同理心中所起作用的重要一步。”

"But since only a tenth of the variation in the degree of empathy between individuals is down to genetics, it is equally important to understand the non-genetic factors."

“但是因为只有十分之一的个体间同理心程度的差异归因于遗传因子，因此了解非遗传因素同样重要。”

The research also found differences in empathy between the sexes.

该研究还发现两性之间的同理心存在差异。

Out of a maximum of 80 from the EQ questionnaire, women on average scored 50, as opposed to 41 for men.

在最高分为80分的情商问卷调查中，女性平均得分为50分，而男性则为41分。

But researchers said they were unable to find any genetic differences behind this.

但研究人员表示，他们无法找到背后的任何遗传差异。

The scientists also found genetic differences that are associated with lower empathy were also linked to a higher risk of autism.

科学家们还发现，与低同理心相关的基因差异也与自闭症风险较高有关。

However, they acknowledged there were limitations to the research.

但是，他们承认研究存在局限性。

The empathy quotient is a self-reported survey, which can skew results.

同理心是一项自我报告的调查，可能会影响结果。

And although they found genetic differences between people who were more and less empathetic, they were not able to find specific "empathy genes" that were responsible for this.

虽然他们发现了高同理心和低同理心的人们之间的基因差异，他们无法找到造成这种情况的具体的“同理心基因”。

They added that future research to find the genes that affect empathy would benefit from more people taking part in the study.

他们补充说，未来对同理心基因的研究会因更多人的参与而获益。