An American study of more than 200 people has found that a person's genetics can affect how they act when betting and investing.
The genes in question affect the role of dopamine, a chemical released in the brain that signals pleasure and motivates people to seek rewards.
While dopamine is already known to play a role in social interactions, researchers at the University of California, Berkley, say their study is the first to show how genes govern the way dopamine functions in the brain.
"This study shows that genes influence complex social behaviour, in this case strategic behaviour," said lead study author Ming Hsu, an assistant professor of marketing in UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.
The research involved studying the brain activity of 217 undergraduates at the National University of Singapore as they engaged in a competitive computer betting game against an anonymous opponent.
Researchers scanned the genomes of the participants for some 700,000 genetic variants and then focused on certain variants within 12 genes involved in regulating dopamine.
The results then showed a "surprising degree of consistency" between the genetics of those studied and their decision-making behaviour.
Those who were better at being able to imagine their competitor's thinking and anticipate and respond to the actions of others had a variation in three genes that affect how dopamine functions in a certain part of the brain, known as the medial prefrontal cortex.
Those who were better at trial-and-error learning had a variation in two genes that primarily affect dopamine in the brain's striatal region.
"Our results add to growing evidence that dopamine mechanisms critically underlie a wide class of value-based decision-making across both social and non-social settings," said the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In 2008-09, Australians spent more than $19 billion on gambling and up to 500,000 Australians are at risk of becoming problem gamblers.