Tuesday, May 26, 2015

L.I.N.K.S. that Lure, Intrigue, Nurture, Kindle, or Stimulate, Part 10: Finger Length Ratio and Personality

L.I.N.K.S. that Lure, Intrigue, Nurture, Kindle, or Stimulate, Part 10:

Finger Length Ratio and Personality

This 10th edition of L.I.N.K.S. is inspired by my recent pop psychology post on Finger Length Ratio and Personality which observed that the length of your ring finger was determined before you were even born. That post concluded with the open-ended observation that many other aspects of your appearance and even your personality may be in-born, and thus largely out of your direct control.

Coming as I do from the "Leaders are made, not born" school, the realization that I find the thought that some behavior is inborn a tad unsettling. I wanted to follow-up with some links (10 links, as a matter of fact--in honor of the 10th edition of L.I.N.K.S.!) to additional reading on the subject for those of you curious enough to explore this topic in a bit more detail. I welcome your comments.

Ten annotated L.I.N.K.S.
  1. Five Things a Man's Finger Length Says About Him. The ratio of digits' lengths could hint at everything from personality to intellect to physiology to propensity for disease. http://www.livescience.com/49883-finger-length-in-men.html 
  2. Finger length ratio can predict aggressive behavior and risk of disease. Researchers continue to study what sparks these hormonal changes and have begun looking at environmental chemical exposure, stress levels and diet during pregnancy. http://discovermagazine.com/2013/may/04-finger-length-ratio-can-predict-aggressive-behavior-and-risk-of-disease 
  3. Polite, promiscuous... gay? What does your ring finger say about you? The longer your ring finger is is compared to your index finger, the greater chance you will be polite and happy, straight, rich or handsome, with a long penis. But, on the down side, you will have a much higher than average chance of developing prostate cancer. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/11424695/Polite-promiscuous...-gay-What-does-your-ring-finger-say-about-you.html 
  4. How the length of a woman's fingers reveals her Career: Short index finger hints that she's more likely to be in high-powered role. The idea is that a low 2D:4D ratio is associated with more aggressive behavior. Contrast this with the findings in article #10. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2965316/How-length-woman-s-fingers-reveals-CAREER-Short-index-finger-hints-s-likely-high-powered-role.html 
  5. Study: Finger length a tell-tale sign of a cheater? A study of 1,300 men and women in England and the United States found that those with same-length ring and index fingers are more likely to “stay” with a committed partner. Those whose ring fingers are longer than their index fingers may be more likely to “stray,” as the authors of the study put it. http://www.hlntv.com/article/2015/02/06/oxford-study-ring-finger-length-cheater-faithful
  6. Can you judge a man by his fingers? Examining the link between relative lengths of index and ring fingers in men and their behavior towards women. Men with short index fingers and long ring fingers are on average nicer towards women. This phenomenon stems from their fetal life, and the hormones these men have been exposed to in their mother's womb. The findings might help explain why these men have more children. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150218122110.htm
  7. Personality Isn't Random. A large component of a child's personality in inherited from that child's parents, and siblings tend to have far more in common with each other than two people their age in the general population. This article came close to making a connection between finger length and MBTI. http://washparkprophet.blogspot.com/2013/02/personality-isnt-random.html 
  8. Penis Size: It May Be Written in the Length of His Fingers. Long ring fingers are associated with larger penile length in males and enlarged clitorises an shallow vaginas in women. http://healthland.time.com/2011/07/06/penis-size-it-may-be-written-in-the-length-of-his-fingers/
  9. Human 2D (index) and 4D (ring) finger lengths and ratios: cross-sectional data on linear growth patterns, sexual dimorphism and lateral asymmetry from 4 to 60 years of age. The study examines how absolute and relative digit lengths vary over a wide range of postnatal ages, and tests whether these variables are influenced by gender, laterality and handedness effects. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2732043/
  10. Finger length ratio (2D:4D) correlates with physical aggression in men but not in women. 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. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15620791

Incidentally, there is a lot of junk science out there, too, and plenty of bad or misleading links. Here is an example of a link that did not make the list. Anytime I see the word "THIS" or lots of ALL CAPS or exclamation points (!!) in the title of an article, I dismiss the article, the author, and the source.

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