Posted on 03/05/2005 5:48:53 AM PST by Pharmboy
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - How long a man's second finger is relative to his fourth finger appears to predict whether he is prone to be physically aggressive toward others, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
But it's not finger length that causes aggression, study author Allison A. Bailey warned in an interview.
She explained that the important factor is the male hormone testosterone. Fetuses are exposed to various levels of this hormone in the womb, and research shows that men who were exposed to higher levels tend to have shorter second fingers, relative to their fourth fingers. "More testosterone, relatively longer ring finger," co-author Dr. Peter L. Hurd told Reuters Health.
Men with shorter second fingers were probably exposed to more testosterone in the womb, and this may cause them to be more prone to physical aggression later in life, Bailey explained. "More testosterone in the womb predicts more physical aggression in men," she told Reuters Health.
Alternatively, both testosterone exposure and finger length may be influenced by a "deeper third variable," Hurd noted. Regardless, the study shows that "events in the womb can have subtle effects on children's personality," Hurd added.
This is not the first study to link the ratio between a man's second and fourth fingers to his personality, Bailey noted. Previous reports have found that men with smaller ratios - meaning, their second finger is much smaller than their fourth - tend to do better in sports, and are perceived as more dominant and masculine by women.
However, other research has shown that men with smaller second-to-fourth finger ratios are at higher risk of autism and immune deficiency.
To investigate how finger ratios match up with physical aggression, Bailey and Hurd measured the finger ratios in 298 psychology students, and asked them to complete a questionnaire measuring aggression.
The questionnaire measured four types of aggression, Bailey noted: physical ("if someone hits me, I hit back"), anger ("I flare up quickly"), hostility ("I am often eaten up by jealousy"), and verbal ("I tell my friends when I disagree with them").
The researchers found that shorter second-to-fourth finger ratios predicted proneness to physical aggression, but not other types of aggression, and only in men, not in women.
In general, men had smaller finger ratios than women, the authors report in the journal Biological Psychology.
Bailey cautioned that these findings only link a shorter finger ratio to a tendency toward physical aggression, and do not show that men with shorter ratios are actually more aggressive. "Somebody might never have acted on anything," she said.
Moreover, behavior is influenced by many other factors, Bailey added. Finger ratios are "just one piece of the puzzle," she said.
SOURCE: Biological Psychology, March 2005.
HA!... which reminds me, "Where are my fingernail clippers?"
No Allison it's not finger length that causes aggression, it's finger balled into a fist.
"So if you 'disagree' with friends, you're too agressive! "
That sounds like Minnesota.
The article does not state how much longer?
Does this apply to woman?
When I was young us girls us to do the Pinkie sign as a joke to how a man is lacking in size regarding that other important male part.
Next, she will be applying for a government grant to study the number of hairs on top of the big toe and how that influences one's sinus condition.
[Aren't government grant programs wonderful?]
It's a 'roid'ers reporter. What did you expect?...
Gotcha...sorry, missed that.
Finger length ratio (2D:4D) correlates with physical aggression in men but not in women
Allison A. Bailey(a), and Peter L. Hurda,
aDepartment of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E9
Received 8 November 2003; accepted 20 May 2004. Available online 29 July 2004.
Abstract
Finger length ratio (2D:4D) is a sexually dimorphic trait. Men have relatively shorter second digits (index fingers) than fourth digits (ring fingers). Smaller, more masculine, digit ratios are thought to be associated with either higher prenatal testosterone levels or greater sensitivity to androgens, or both. Men with more masculine finger ratios are perceived as being more masculine and dominant by female observers, and tend to perform better in a number of physical sports. We hypothesized that digit ratio would correlate with propensity to engage in aggressive behavior. We examined the relationship between trait aggression, assayed using a questionnaire, and finger length ratio in both men and women. Men with lower, more masculine, finger length ratios had higher trait physical aggression scores (rpartial = −0.21, N = 134, P = 0.028). We found no correlation between finger length ratio and any form of aggression in females. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that testosterone has an organizational effect on adult physical aggression in men.
C'mon...you should keep the really good ideas to yourself (if that study hasn't already been done, that is).
I'm having some very nice Papua New Guinea Sigri A, medium dark roast, fresh ground.
Would you like a cup?
Maybe you can get them back from the TSA...
my word ;o)
Oh. Hmmmmmmmm. I guess our monthly surges don't measure out in digits.
Yep, big ratio here, and I am competitive, aggressive when necessary and warlike when called for. Just a guy, it is how we are supposed to be.
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