Abstract: Creativity, like most other complex traits, is determined by the interplay of genes and the environment. The relationship between maternal authoritativeness and creativity has been extensively studied. However, previous research on the role of maternal authoritativeness in creativity has produced mixed results. It is reasonable to suspect that the primary reason for the discrepancy may be the neglect of gene-environment (G × E) interaction. Early research found that the serotonin system genes and maternal parenting styles have an interactive effect on creativity. The TPH2 gene plays an important role in the serotonin synthesis in the brain, which is closely related to creativity. However, no articles study the interaction between TPH2 gene polymorphism and maternal parenting styles on creativity. This study wants to fill this research gap. Among the polymorphic sites of TPH2, rs4570625 is the most investigated polymorphic site by researchers. Studies have shown that the rs4570625 polymorphism is significantly related to creativity. Therefore, this study explores the interaction between the rs4570625 polymorphism and maternal authoritativeness on creativity and explains maternal authoritativeness’s controversial results. There are three overarching theoretical perspectives to explain the G × E interaction model: the genetic vulnerability, differential susceptibility, and vantage sensitivity models. Until now, only one study explained the prediction model of the interaction between the 5-HT gene and environment on creativity. Thus, little is known about the exact G × E interaction pattern for creativity. The present study also examines the potential interaction model to further clarify the G × E interaction pattern for creativity and better explain the interaction of TPH2 rs4570625 polymorphism and maternal parenting styles. The present study used performance evaluation, self-reporting and genotyping to measure 409 healthy Chinese Han college students’ general intelligence and creativity, maternal parenting style, and genotype. First, three verbal tasks in the creativity measurement tool compiled by Runco Creativity Assessment Battery (rCAB) were selected to measure the participants’ creativity. Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM) was used to test the participants’ general fluid intelligence. Second, the maternal version of the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) compiled by Buri measured maternal parenting style. In addition, the Sequenom MassAR-RAY iPLEX system (Sequenom, San Diego, CA) was used for rs4570625 genotyping at Shenzhen-Beijing Institute of Genomics. Finally, hierarchical regression analysis and regions of significance (RoS) methods were used to analyze the collected data and the interaction effects of TPH2 rs4570625 polymorphism and maternal authoritativeness on creativity. The results showed that: (1) There was a significant interaction between rs4570625 polymorphism and maternal authoritativeness on predicting fluency and originality. Maternal authoritativeness significantly predicted the fluency/originality of T allele carriers, and this predictive effect did not occur in GG homozygous individuals. (2) For fluency and originality, the analysis of RoS both provided supporting evidence for the differential susceptibility model. Compared with GG homozygous individuals, T allele carriers reported significantly higher fluency/originality when there was high maternal authoritativeness and significantly lower fluency/originality when there was low maternal authoritativeness. This study is the first to investigate the interaction between rs4570625 polymorphism and maternal authoritativeness on creativity and its interactive model, which provides new evidence for the role of genes and early maternal parenting in predicting creativity.

Key words: creativity, rs4570625 polymorphism, gene-environment interaction, differential susceptibility model

摘要： 采用基因分型技术、自我报告及表现性评价对409名健康的中国汉族大学生的基因型、母亲教养方式、一般智力和创造力进行测量，综合运用分层回归分析和显著性区域分析（regions of significance, RoS）方法探讨了TPH2基因rs4570625多态性与母亲权威教养对创造力的交互作用及其交互作用模式。结果发现：（1）在创造力的流畅性和独创性维度上，rs4570625多态性和母亲权威存在显著的交互作用。（2）RoS分析结果均支持差别易感模型，T等位基因是母亲权威的“可塑性”基因。这些发现将有助于从遗传和环境相互作用的角度解释个体创造力差异的起源。

关键词: 创造力, rs4570625多态性, 基因-环境交互作用, 差别易感模型