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Success of your marriage is in your DNA, new research suggests. A gene involved in the regulation of the “happy hormone” called serotonin can predict the extent to which our emotions can affect our relationships.

The study performed at the University of California, Berkeley, and Northwestern University, may be the first of its kind which links genetics, emotions, and marital satisfaction.

“An enduring mystery is, what makes one spouse so attuned to the emotional climate in a marriage, and another so oblivious?” told Senior author of the study, UC Berkeley psychologist Robert W Levenson, according to Daily Mail.

“With these new genetic findings, we now understand much more about what determines just how important emotions are for different people,” Robert later added.

Specifically, in the research, a link was found between relationship fulfillment and a gene variant known as 5-HTTLPR. Naturally all humans inherit a copy of this gene variant from each parent.

‘We are always trying to understand the recipe for a good relationship, and emotion keeps coming up as an important ingredient,’ said Levenson.

However, the researchers note that the new findings don’t mean that couples with different variations of 5-HTTLPR are incompatible.

‘Individuals with two short alleles of the gene variant may be like hothouse flowers, blossoming in a marriage when the emotional climate is good and withering when it is bad,’ said Claudia M. Haase of Northwestern University and lead author of the study, according to Daily Mail. 

‘Neither of these genetic variants is inherently good or bad,’ she later added. ‘Each has its advantages and disadvantages.’