Meta-analysis of digit ratio 2D:4D shows greater sex difference in the right hand

Honekopp, Johannes and Watson, Steven (2010) Meta-analysis of digit ratio 2D:4D shows greater sex difference in the right hand. American Journal of Human Biology, 22 (5). pp. 619-630. ISSN 1042-0533

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Abstract

Males tend to be more aggressive than females and the organizational effects of prenatal testosterone (T) appear to contribute to this sex difference. Low second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) is thought to be a marker of high prenatal testosterone. For this reason, a number of studies have used 2D:4D to investigate a potential effect of prenatal T upon aggression in later life. Here we meta-analyse these studies to determine the true size of the relationship between 2D:4D and aggression. We find no evidence of 2D:4D better predicting aggression at different levels of risk nor do we find evidence for a relationship between 2D:4D and aggression in females. Regarding males we find some evidence of a small, negative relationship between 2D:4D and aggression (r ≈ −.06) and no indication that either hand would predict aggression better than the other. We contrast these findings with results regarding levels of aggression in females with elevated prenatal T levels due to Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia and we discuss implications for 2D:4D research.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	testosterone, aggression, meta-analysis
Subjects:	C800 Psychology
Department:	Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Psychology
Depositing User:	Ay Okpokam
Date Deposited:	24 Jan 2012 16:32
Last Modified:	12 Oct 2019 16:29
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/5094

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