the article starts talking about correlation between aggression and index/ring finger ratio, but then the doctor makes this assertion:
“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.”
is there anything to it or was this misquoted? This seems a bit surprising, I mean, I’ve heard many times that athletes tend to be more symmetrical than the general population, but this is the first time I hear about finger ratio and/or prenatal testosterone exposure having anything to do with athletic performance later in life…
They should do a study on aggressive driving and length of the middle finger.
I’d also suspect that length in general (as in those with nubby fingers and a Napolean complex) would also be more aggressive, or just pissed at the world in general.
I have the opposite problem. When I was 7 years old I had to give up on eating Pringles because my hand wouldn’t fit in the cannister (and tipping the can just f’s up the whole stack)
Yes, it is true. I remember a few years ago reading the scientific study that demonstrated the correlation between finger length and athletic ability. I found an article about it on some sports science site. It is related to testosterone levels. The ring finger being longer than the index finger is a predictor of athletic ability. Later I read that this is true also for women, not just men.
Edit: found the article that I saw from 2003. It was on www.sportsci.org : Testosterone Talent Test?
Grant R Tomkinson, Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Underdale, Australia 5032. Email. Sportscience 7, sportsci.org/jour/03/inbrief.htm#test, 2003 (288 words). Published June 14, 2003. Reviewer: William J. Kraemer, Department of Kinesiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269.
Examine the fingers of your hand. Which is longer: the index finger (the finger you use to point with–technically the second digit, counting the thumb) or the ring finger (the fourth digit)? The ring finger in males is typically longer than the index finger, whereas the fingers are about the same length in females. There is some indirect evidence that the ratio of the length of the fingers is determined during early fetal development by testosterone (Manning, 2000): the more testosterone the fetus produces, the longer the ring finger, so the smaller the index/ring finger ratio.
Testosterone is, of course, the natural steroid hormone that enhances athletic performance, so are men with smaller finger ratios better athletes? In general, yes–they are more likely to become athletes and to reach higher competitive levels in a range of sports (Manning & Taylor, 2001). For example, professional football players tend to have lower finger ratios than non-athletes, first team players have lower ratios than reserve or youth team players, footballers who have played for their country have lower ratios than those who haven’t, and men with lower ratios run substantially faster over 800 m and 1500 m. So, would measurement of the finger ratio help to identify athletic talent? It might be worth doing some research to find out.
Manning JT (2000). Digit ratio: A pointer to fertility, behavior and health. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press
Manning JT, Taylor RP (2001). Second to fourth digit ratio and male ability in sport: Implications for sexual selection in humans. Evolution and Human Behavior, 22, 61-69
Same here, but I’m still a freakin’ turtle. I can drink beer pretty well, though…is that a sport?
Spot
I suppose hard core beer drinking is probably correlated in the same way. Beer drinking is certainly correlated with other overtly male preoccupations. Sissy guys don’t drink beer, right?
