Finger length - aggression and gender traits

"It has been known for some time that there is a direct correlation
between finger lengths and the amount of the male sex hormone
testosterone that a baby is exposed to in the womb.

In women, the two fingers are usually almost equal in length, as
measured from the crease nearest the palm to the fingertip. In men,
the ring finger tends to be much longer than the index."

(My index and ring fingers are identical length - K)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4314209.stm

Finger length 'key to aggression'

The length of a man's fingers can reveal how physically aggressive he
is, Canadian scientists have said.

The shorter the index finger is compared to the ring finger, the more
boisterous he will be, University of Alberta researchers said.

But the same was not true for verbal aggression or hostile behaviours,
they told the journal Biological Psychology after studying 300
people's fingers.

The trend is thought to be linked to testosterone exposure in the
womb.

Hand hints

It has been known for some time that there is a direct correlation
between finger lengths and the amount of the male sex hormone
testosterone that a baby is exposed to in the womb.

In women, the two fingers are usually almost equal in length, as
measured from the crease nearest the palm to the fingertip. In men,
the ring finger tends to be much longer than the index.

Other studies looking at finger length ratio have suggested that, in
men, a long ring finger and symmetrical hands are an indication of
fertility, and that women are more likely to be fertile if they have a
longer index finger.

One study found boys with shorter ring fingers tended to be at
greatest risk of a heart attack in early adulthood, which was linked
to testosterone levels.

In the current study, Dr Peter Hurd and his student Allison Bailey
measured the fingers of 300 undergraduates at their university.

Men with the shortest index fingers scored higher on measures of
physical aggression than those with longer index fingers, but the
study's findings did not apply to women.

Dr Hurd is now looking at male hockey players to see whether there is
any correlation between finger lengths and each player's penalty
record for contact and fouling during matches.

Window to the soul?

He has also been looking at whether men with more feminine finger
lengths might be more prone to depression.

He said: "Finger length can tell you a little bit about where
personality comes from.

"A large part of our personalities and our traits are determined while
we are still in the womb."

But he said finger length should not be used to draw too many
conclusions about an individual person.

"For example, you wouldn't want to screen people for certain jobs
based on their finger lengths."

Professor John Manning from the University of Central Lancashire's
department of psychology, who first realised that sex hormone exposure
in the womb influences finger length, agreed.

He said certain individual characteristics correlate better with
finger length than others.

"For example, if you had a group of runners and they were about to
start a race I could predict reasonably well who was going to win
based on their finger length.

"But I would not be able to predict whether someone was neurotic or
not."

He said Dr Hurd's findings were logical based on what we know about
finger length, testosterone exposure and aggression, but said more
research was needed to confirm the findings.

He said another recent study had found women exposed to higher levels
of testosterone in the womb, and hence a more 'male' pattern of finger
length, displayed more frustrated behaviour when answering challenging
telephone calls than other women.