A meta-analysis on 2D:4D and athletic prowess : substantial relationships but neither hand out-predicts the other

Honekopp, Johannes and Schuster, Mirjam (2010) A meta-analysis on 2D:4D and athletic prowess : substantial relationships but neither hand out-predicts the other. Personality and Individual Differences, 48 (1). pp. 4-10. ISSN 0191-8869

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Abstract

We meta-analyzed the literature on the relationship between the length ratio of the second to the fourth digit (2D:4D), a putative negative correlate of prenatal testosterone (T) levels in humans, and athletic prowess. Analyses of 21 samples with 2527 participants revealed: (i) measures of athletic prowess are reliably negatively linked to 2D:4D in both hands in females and males (r ? ?.26, p < .001); (ii) considerable heterogeneity of results suggests that prenatal T has inconsistent, low to moderate effects on athletic prowess; (iii) contrary to popular claims, no hand systematically out-predicted the other hand in the domain of athletic prowess (p = .957), which implies that researchers should always study 2D:4D in both hands. However, systematic heterogeneity in this latter result suggests that under some circumstances yet to be identified, left-hand 2D:4D systematically out-predicts right-hand 2D:4D whereas the opposite is true under other circumstances.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	digit ratio, testosterone, physical fitness, meta-analysis
Subjects:	C600 Sports Science
Department:	Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Psychology
Depositing User:	EPrint Services
Date Deposited:	18 Mar 2010 15:40
Last Modified:	31 Jul 2021 08:39
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/538

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