Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation?

**Martijn (admin)** Tue May 24, 2011 6:58 pm

Does the 2D:4D finger length ratio really correlate with sexual orientation?

In 2010 a Meta-analysis studyby researchers from the University of Ontario, Penn State, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health found that the second to fourth finger length ratio (2D:4D) serves as an indicator of sexual orientation. The study included 1.618 heterosexual men, 1.693 heterosexual women, 1.503 gay men, and 1.014 lesbians.

The Meta-analysis study confirmed for women that finger length correlates with sexual orientation. But not for men, though though moderator analyses by the researchers suggested that ethnicity explained some between-studies variation in men.

The full report is available here:
http://www.putslab.psu.edu/pdfs/grimbos_10_behneuro.pdf

A QUICK SUMMARY:
http://fingerlengthdigitratio.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/about-ring-fingers-sexual-attraction/

**curiouswoman** Tue Jun 21, 2011 3:32 am

I am a female and I have long ring finger. I am straight. I am not the jealous type. I am highly confident in myself. I admire beauty in everyone and everything. i like things to be very beautiful and I love the arts.

**Martijn (admin)** Tue Jun 21, 2011 11:45 am

Hello Curiouswoman,

Don't worry, you're not the only 'straight' female with a long ring finger (because the results of the study for are significant for women as a group, but the level of significance is not high enough for applying this link to individuals).

PS. I hope you also considered the absolute length of your index finger, because it really requires a measurement of both the ring- and index finger in order to compare your hands with the resuls of the study.

**zeblethai** Fri Jul 01, 2011 2:48 pm

I've read that homosexual women are exposed to more prenatal androgen than heterosexual women therefore causing their fourth digit to grow in length. I think sexual orientation is more complicated than that.

sv-b3 Fri Jul 01, 2011 2:58 pm

zeblethai wrote:I've read that homosexual women are exposed to more prenatal androgen than heterosexual women therefore causing their fourth digit to grow in length. I think sexual orientation is more complicated than that.

After reading this idea, i surfed and got the following links.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070626105514AANEIfn

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101223025340AAM8Lxs

This link may help you. but i guess , it is related to index and third finger than fourth

**Martijn (admin)** Tue Jan 24, 2012 5:43 pm

Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation? Watson-twins-red-hands

Japanese study reports: monozygotic twin pairs discordant in sexual orientation show significant within-pair differences in the 2D:4D ratio!!!

In a 2012 (identical) twin study from Japan new evidence is presented which confirms that the 2D:4D finger ratio does provide a clue about sexual orientation in both men and women:
Left hand digit ratio correctly predicts sexual orientation in 91% in 12 discordant twin couples

Additionally, I also found this new fascinating video (2011) from Japan where Prof. John Manning explains how to assess the talents of young children by means of their 2D:4D digit ratio:

**Martijn (admin)** Tue Jan 24, 2012 6:07 pm

... and this is PART 2 of the Japanese report featuring Prof. John Manning:

**Martijn (admin)** Tue Jan 31, 2012 11:21 pm

Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation? Clip_image004

Facial symmetry could play a role in "gaydar," a new study suggests. Researchers at Albright College in Reading, Pa examined how perceptions of a person's sexual orientation are influenced by facial symmetry and proportions. Self-identified heterosexuals had facial features that were slightly more symmetrical than homosexuals. And the more likely raters perceived someone as heterosexual, the more symmetrical that person's features were.

You can read more about this study here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/gaydar-and-facial-symmetry_n_1223623.html

Now, one could wonder: how about the fluctuating asymmetry in the 2D:4D digit ratio of both hands (= fluctuating 2D:4D): has this aspect been studied in the digit ratio studies focussed on sexual orientation?

Well, the answer is simple:

Yes, fluctuating 2D:4D has been studied among populations discordant for sexual orientation. However, most of these studies have revealed that fluctuating 2D:4D does NOT correlate with sexual orientation (though there is a catch: because one rather complex study revealed that there could be something going on in people who's left hand fingers are longer than the right hand finger - see more below).

So, the new finding regarding the link between facial asymmetry & sexual orientation does not apply likewise for the 2D:4D digit ratio

* A rather complex study focussed on studying the (possible) link between various aspects of right vs. left hand differences in 2D:4D digit ratio & sexual orientation:
http://www.putslab.psu.edu/pdfs/martin_08_2d4d.pdf

The discussion in this study e.g. reports:

"... Separating individuals according to the DA of both of these digits revealed that those who had rightward DA had relatively similar 2D:4D ratios regardless of their sex or sexual orientation (Fig. 3). The sex difference was absent for Berkeley groups with rightward DA (although it might have been statistically signiﬁcant in a larger sample). This picture changed substantially when one examined people with leftward DA in these two digits: sexual orientation differences appeared and the sexual dimorphism in 2D:4D as statistically signiﬁcant. However, the change was due to variation in only two of the four groups: heterosexual men and homosexual women. These two groups had different digit ratios depending on whether they had leftward DA or rightward DA in these digits. In contrast, the digit ratios in homosexual men and heterosexual women were not significantly affected by laterality. The pattern in the Pittsburgh data was less clear, with heterosexual men showing laterality-dependent 2D:4D ratios in one group of men, but not
the other group. ..."

**Martijn (admin)** Sat Aug 11, 2012 1:54 am

FASCINATING...! Thumbs up!

This 2008 book describes an overview of anthropmetric studies that have been done so far in the perspective of sexual orientation:
http://books.google.nl/books?id=HhBjTzbhjhQC&pg=

(Wow, this is a very usefull summarry ... for I now fully understand how the physique of homosexuals and lesbiens tends to approach the physique of the opposite sex regarding the limbs in specific. The 'mirror' results for 2D:4D digit ration and the 'hand index' perfectly make sense in this perspective)

Page 103/104 describes e.g. the results of a fascinating study which found that 'hand index' provides probably a BETTER clue about sexual orientation that the 2D:4D digit ratio (see e.g. the picture below).

PS. These patterns become only visible when groups are studies, so one should not assume from these studies that one can simply 'read' sexual orientation from the combination of '2D:4D digit ratio' + 'hand index' + 'arm span vs body height'.

(Unfortunately, I bet there has never been a study which combined these measures... Exclamation

)

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0018506X03001740

Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation? 1-s2.0-S0018506X03001740-gr1

Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation? 1-s2.0-S0018506X03001740-gr1

Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation? Digits

**Martijn (admin)** Sat Aug 11, 2012 11:09 am

Just found another clue that clearly points in the direction of a 'mirror effect':
http://projects.ecfs.org/pchurch/AT%20BIOLOGY/Papers0809/sexualOrientationFingerLength.pdf

Table VI shows that absolute finger length in gay men clearly tends to be shorter than heterosexual men (confirmed by 4 out 5 studies reported).

(However, in females this effect is seen in only 2 out 4 studies)

NOTICE: These effects only relate to the average length of the index finger and ring finger. Unfortunately I have not been able to find any study which has studied this for the length of middle finger...!

**Martijn (admin)** Sat Aug 11, 2012 12:37 pm

... I have made an analysis of the data presented in this studies, and found a clear indication that the 'mirror-effect' is by far the most pronounced for 'hand breadth vs. hand length' .

Additionally, the data appears to point out that the 'mirror-effect' is most likely to be found in the combination of hand index, 2D:4D digit ratio and arm/stature ratio.[/strike]

For each of the 2 hand/finger ratios the effect size appears to be larger in females than in males (for arm/stature ratio it appears to be slightly larger in males).

So, the data indicate that via the hand it is probably much more easy to identify lesbian females than gay men!

thinking

Time to check this out at the 'homosexuality hand test':
https://www.modernhandreadingforum.com/t1835-homosexuality-in-the-hands-test?highlight=test

(I will present my findings here later today! Smile

)

**Martijn (admin)** Sun Aug 12, 2012 1:38 pm

I have spend quite a few hours studying the details in 3 hand pair of hand in the 'homosexuality hand test' in the perspective of the results of the studies that I mentioned.... unfortunately with little result.

The homosexual male (case 3) in the hand-test appears to have very 'masculine' hands, and for this reason both his digit ratio and his hand index do not provide any clue for his sexual preference.

I have even compared his 2D:4D digit ratio with the other dimensions of his hand (= the ratio of 2D:4D digit ratio and the M/F factor), but his digit ratio remains very masculine in the perspective of his hand shape too.

Additionally, the 'hand index' in case 3 is very masculine as well.

I only found that his finger length to palm length ratio to be slightly 'feminine'... however, in the studies I have found no evidence at all that this could provide a clue regarding sexual orientation. Especially, since in case 1 this ratio is even more 'feminine'.

(Unfortunately, it appears that finger length to palm length ratio has never been studied in the perspective of sexual orientation)

So, despite the significant results described in the various studies... I prefer to cherish my opinion that (usually) it is not possible to 'read' sexual orientation from the hands.

Nevertheless, we can try to find other clues that have proven to be significant in large numbers of homosexuals. But the chances appear to be pretty low that we will find such characteristics in case 3.

Smile

PS. I should add here that case 1 has a more 'feminine' finger length to palm length ratio than case 3, however, his hands have a few other 'feminine' characteristcs - which could make the fl/pl ratio aspect less significant. By the way, in case 1 the M/F factor is close to 4.0 and therefore his hands should better not be described as 'feminine'.

**Martijn (admin)** Sun Aug 12, 2012 10:33 pm

PS. The significance of masculine/feminine hand features in the perspective of sexual orientation has a strong parallel regarding likewise results reported in a 2011 study for facial characteristics:
http://shell.newpaltz.edu/jsec/articles/volume5/issue4/Hughes_Vol5Iss4.pdf

Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation?

Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation?

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Re: Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation?

Re: Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation?

Re: Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation?

Re: Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation?

Re: Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation?

Re: Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation?

Re: Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation?

Re: Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation?

Re: Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation?

Re: Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation?

Re: Can 2D:4D finger length ratio really predict sexual orientation?