Born to be a Marine: Digit ratios and military service!

**Martijn (admin)** on Sun Apr 01, 2012 10:39 pm

Last week a study from Korea revealed that (as expected) males who were capable to join the marine, exhibit lower 2D:4D digit ratios compared to others in the military service.

Born to be a Marine: Digit ratios and military service! 1-s2.0-S0191886912001031-gr1

Born to be a Marine: Digit ratios and military service! 1-s2.0-S0191886912001031-gr1

Born to be a Marine: Digit ratios and military service! 1-s2.0-S0191886912001031-gr2

SUMMARY:

"Digitratio (2D:4D) is a negative correlate of prenatal testosterone. The current study tested the hypothesis that 2D:4D would be associated with the type of military service chosen by young Korean males. Our sample consisted of 128 young males aged 22–26 years (M = 24.32, SD = 0.89). We measured the 2D:4D on the participants’ right hands and explored its relationship to their selection of one of four branches of military service. Statistical analysis found no significant differences among the four branches of military service but supported our hypothesis of significant group differences in 2D:4D between Marines and all non-Marines. As expected, members of the Marine Corps demonstrated the lowest digitratios, whereas those in the Army showed the highest. The average 2D:4D was 0.94 (SD = 0.05) for the Marine Corps, 0.95 (SD = 0.07) for the Air Force, 0.96 (SD = 0.06) for the Navy, and 0.97 (SD = 0.06) for the Army. Our research found evidence of small but significant group differences in 2D:4D among members of different branches of military service. We conclude that low 2D:4D is related to the risk and severity associated with the type of military training selected by recruits."

Source:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886912001031