Finger Length Points to Male Aggression

[On the Road]

A University of Alberta study finds that measuring a man's index finger length relative to his ring finger length predicts his predisposition to being physically aggressive.


The shorter the index finger relative to the ring finger, the higher the amount of prenatal testosterone and the more likely the man will be physically aggressive, they researchers

---snip

According to the researchers, experts have known for a hundred years that the index-to-ring finger length ratio of men differs considerably from that seen in women. And more recently, research has suggested that the length of men's fingers changes depending on their exposure to testosterone in the womb.


Now, finger length and physical aggression seem to be linked as well, at least in men. The Alberta team found no such link in women.

LINK to article

[rkc3]

1. I thought the size of a man's hands were related to the size of his....

gloves.

Edited for spelling.

[patrice]

2. More proof that length matters.

Or is that size?

[displacedtexan]

3. That sounds like that old "Short Men Are Dangerous" study.

I remember that study from a Psych class (Aberrant Behavior, I think): the shorter the man, the more prone to violence.

The study cited the average height of men in prisons (convicted of violent crimes) as something like 5'7".

Hm.

[HereSince1628]

4. 5% of the variation in aggression is explained by finger length?

Do you suppose the other 95% was accounted for by bumps on the cranium?

[bemildred]

10. Sounds like more statistical horseshit to me.

If they were talking about skin color, everybody would recognize
it for the racist-type crap that it is.

[phantom power]

5. I've noticed a correlation

between agression and middle fingers.

[mike_c]

6. I'm a sensitive new age guy....

My index finger is LONGER than my ring finger.

on edit-- evidence has also been published lately suggesting that among academic men, those with index fingers as long as their ring fingers or longer tend to have greater aptitude for the hard sciences, while men involved in social sciences and the humanities tend to have index fingers significantly shorter than their ring fingers. I'm not making that up. And yes, I'm a biologist.

[teenagebambam]

8. My friends and I...

...purport, based on empirical evidence, that the comparison between the two fingers can be used to determine sexual identity. And a urologist friend claims he can use the size differential between the two fingers to estimate penile length!

[DrGonzoLives]

7. You know

I bet I could come up with a similar correlation between processor speed and, length of the space bar on the keyboard, monitor size and decibel level of the fan. It doesn't mean it's right.

[mike_c]

9. this isn't as spurious as you've suggested....

The correlation is actually with the ratio of testosterone and estrogen present in the uterine environment during early embryogenesis. Lots of behavioral and developmental correlations with testosterone/estrogen ratios during vertebrate male development have been known for decades (including aggressive behavior, at least in rats). The ratio of finger length in human males is also a correllary of uterine t/e ratios, so this is not really too unexpected.

[Boomer]

13. Just for a lark...

...my partner and I compared hand profiles.

Although both women, there was considerable difference in our finger length ratio, and it did follow the correlation. Not claiming this is definitive proof, mind you, just reporting the facts.

[OneBlueSky]

11. I call "bullshit!" . . . this exact same correlation was presented . . .

about five years ago . . . except then, the shorter index finger relative to the ring finger supposedly indicated a prediliction to homosexuality . . . I remember clipping the article, and I'll see if I can dig it up . . .

[sans qualia]

12. If memory serves me right...

According to the old study, while men in general have longer ring fingers than index fingers and women in general have index fingers and ring fingers of about the same length, lesbians had fingers that matched the male pattern. Gay men were also supposed to have unusually "masculine" fingers, but only when they had several older brothers. The length of the ring finger relative to the index finger has also been linked to heart disease in men, with a shorter ring finger indicating an increased risk. I think they used the same reasoning here, that the amount of testosterone a fetus is exposed to in utero affects the development of the cardiovascular system such that more testosterone => stronger heart. Presumably, the protective effect of estrogen on the cardiovascular system offsets the effect in premenopausal women.