Amelia Hill, social affairs correspondent 

Forget the stars: it’s sun that shapes our destiny

The time of year we are born really does affect the people we become. But it's nothing to do with the position of the stars or movement of the planets, as horoscopes would have us believe. Instead, says a new study, it's down to how much sunshine a woman is exposed to during her pregnancy.
  
  


The time of year we are born really does affect the people we become. But it's nothing to do with the position of the stars or movement of the planets, as horoscopes would have us believe. Instead, says a new study, it's down to how much sunshine a woman is exposed to during her pregnancy.

'We have linked a child's season of birth with levels of certain chemicals in the body which have powerful impacts on the way people behave,' said professor Jayanti Chotai, a consultant psychiatrist and senior lecturer at Umea University in Sweden.

Scientists believe that strong natural light boosts levels of serotonin, the brain's natural 'happy drug' that seems to play a strong role in lifting moods. Chotai continued: 'We made some very intriguing matches. Women born during spring have low serotonin levels because of the long months of winter during which they were in the womb.

'Low serotonin levels are associated with... impulsiveness and aggressiveness, as well as anxiety-related traits like neuroses, harm-avoidance and poor social skills. When combined into a particular temperament... these women are likely to be explosive, overly sensitive and passive-aggressive.'

Men born from February to April, on the other hand, are most likely to have high levels of dopamine, another mood-lifting chemical boosted by sunlight. 'This means they will have impulsive and persistent character traits,' said Chotai, whose paper, published next month, is based on a Finnish study of almost 5,000 men and women.

Chotai also found that men born from October to January have low dopamine levels and are most likely to be gentle and reflective types.

Chotai insisted that astrologers should not seize on his research as evidence that personalities are predestined by star signs. 'Our results should not be mixed up with astrology,' he said. 'Only one heavenly body is invoked in explaining our results: the sun, because it is that which gives rise to seasons.

'Characteristics do not change in jerks, day by day or week by week, according to the birth period. Rather, one's personality is linked to the month of your birth in a curve, just as the curve in weather gently moves from cold to warm or from dark to light throughout the year, and not in sudden jerks.'

 

Leave a Comment

Required fields are marked *

*

*