Posted on 03/06/2005 9:28:26 AM PST by sully777
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.
J.C. picture ping
Wood-shop teachers were excluded from this study, I hope.
I smell doo doo!
2nd, 4th, ring finger. Which fingers are the talking about?
"A new study shows that the shorter his index finger is relative to his ring finger, the more likely he is to be physically aggressive." -- from this OTHER article.
Breaking my finger?
Actually I find this story interesting. There is also evidence regarding toe lengths, ear lengths.
Think "digit" instead of finger and you can follow it (with the thumb being the first digit).
Here in Boston, a/k/a Bozotown, you can tell an aggressive male (or female) by the length of the middle finger they are aiming in your direction.
I've discovered from this story that I'm prone to become violent and am probably going to kill someone. I guess you learn something new every day.
Congressman Billybob
Hmmmm, I think this theory is about as right as the one that says "The size of a man's shoe is equal to the size of his....." ahem, well you know.
feet?
Are people that do Chisenbop 5 or 50 times more likely to have this trait?
Note to file. Are Korean Chisenboppers more likely to figure piano keying or calculate earned income from picking pockets? I see math and manual dexterity in both. One's bad the other's not. Start measuring the fingers!
Note to file. Are Korean Chisenboppers more likely to figure piano keying or calculate earned income from picking pockets? I see math and manual dexterity in both. One's bad the other's not. Start measuring the fingers!
Not too long ago, the length of this digit was supposed to indicate a prediliction toward homosexuality... too short: gay... long: you like girls. Now it's aggression... busy finger.
Giving the Finger
Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the Renowned English longbow and therefore be incapable of fighting in the future.
This famous weapon was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking the yew" (or "pluck yew").
Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, "See, we can still pluck yew! "PLUCK YEW!"
Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodental fricative 'F', and thus the words often used in conjunction with the ne-finger-salute are mistakenly thought to have something to do with an intimate encounter. It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as "giving the bird."
And yew thought yew knew everything.
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