Digit Ratio 2D:4D: What can Our Hands tell us?

What can the length of our fingers, or our digit ratio, tell us? It can serve as a predictor of physical, psychological and behavioural traits

What is the Digit Ratio?

The term describes the relationship between the length of the second (2nd digit, 2D, or index) and the fourth (digit 4, 4D, or ring) fingers.

Graphic representation of a hand with measurements of the index (2D) and ring (4D) fingers.

So that:

Calculating the digit ratio.

What is the 2D:4D Ratio used for?

It’s used to assess the degree of “masculinity” characteristics you have.

While it seems strange, and it certainly is, quite a few studies show relationships between 2D:4D and physical, psychological and behavioural traits typical of an androgenic or oestrogen environment, depending on the value obtained.

Low 2D:4D Ratio, what does it mean?

A value lower than 1 is characteristic of men, and is associated with:

Histogram showing the distribution of subjects in both sexes and their digital ratio.

According to a study in the University of Alberta where they related this relationship to some health markers, in humans, the average is

With a statistically significant difference, which means that in a uniformly distributed way, men have a lower ratio than women.

This isn’t to say that a woman can’t have a smaller 2D:4D ratio, just that it’s less common.

You hand reveals thing about you: finger theory

Finger theory is just a colloquial way of describing the phenomenon that associates the 2D:4D ratio with certain characteristic features when, in principle, there should be no reason to do so.

This is part of the study of palmistry, a pseudoscience based on the fact that our hands contain relevant information about our health, our way of being, our behaviour and our future.

Something that has not been rigorously demonstrated in any study carried out in a university of recognised transparency.

Perhaps our hands can provide at least some information about us and our way of acting.

What happens if my ring finger is larger than my index??

It’s OK to have your ring finger bigger than your index finger, i.e. a bigger 2D:4D.

It is possible that you’ll be more susceptible to:

Ring finger and testosterone

The reason behind the relationship between these fingers is that the ring finger has a higher density of androgen receptors (to which hormones such as testosterone are bound), while the index finger has an increased density of oestrogen receptors (to which mainly oestrone, estriol and estradiol are bound).

Hormone predominance and associated receptor density in the fingers, resulting in a male/female phenotype depending on their relationship.

Hence foetal exposure to hormones during the specific process of finger development conditions the length of the ring finger, and the digit ratio, with the effects described above.

Bibliographic References

1. Eklund, E., Ekström, L., Thörngren, J. O., Ericsson, M., Berglund, B., & Hirschberg, A. L. (2020). Digit Ratio (2D:4D) and Physical Performance in Female Olympic Athletes. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 11, 292.
2. Lutchmaya, S., Baron-Cohen, S., Raggatt, P., Knickmeyer, R., & Manning, J. T. (2004). 2Nd To 4Th Digit Ratios, Fetal Testosterone and Estradiol. Early Human Development, 77(1–2), 23–28.
3. Wlodarski, R., Manning, J., & Dunbar, R. I. M. (2015). Stay or stray? Evidence for alternative mating strategy phenotypes in both men and women. Biology Letters, 11(2), 20140977.
4. Zheng, U., & Cohn, M. J. (2011). Developmental basis of sexually dimorphic digit ratios. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108(39), 16289–16294.
5. Tabachnik, M., Sheiner, E., & Wainstock, T. (2020). The association between second to fourth digit ratio, reproductive and general health among women: findings from an Israeli pregnancy cohort. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 6341.
6. Bailey, A. A., & Hurd, P. L. (2005). Finger length ratio (2D:4D) correlates with physical aggression in men but not in women. Biological Psychology, 68(3), 215–222.

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