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In studies Manning has found a strong correlation between long ring fingers and sporting ability. The more testosterone you have the better your spatial judgment, an important ability in many sports. A study of athletics and soccer showed that success was associated with long ring fingers. Professional footballers, for example, had longer ring fingers than non-football players; international footballers had longer ring fingers than non-international footballers; and “stars” and coaches had longer ring fingers than current players, particularly those from lower divisions.
Because of their greater foetal exposure to testosterone, men with long ring fingers, Manning says, may be more fertile, more aggressive and assertive and have more aptitude for music.
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Women who have relatively long ring fingers have a greater tendency towards homosexuality/bisexuality, are more aggressive and less fertile than those women with second and fourth digits of similar length.
Finger length can also be an indictor of potential health problems. Manning and his colleagues examined 151 heart attack victims in the Liverpool area. They found that in men with relatively long index fingers, the age range for heart attack was 35 to 80 years of age. In those with relatively long ring fingers it was 58 to 80. An explanation for this difference is that men with long ring fingers have higher levels of testosterone, known to protect against heart attacks. Manning’s findings, if confirmed by other studies, would mean that the length of a boy’s ring finger could indicate if they have a higher risk of heart attack in early adulthood.
Manning and others have also found correlations between ring finger length and depression in men and for people with autism. A study of 102 men and women from different socioeconomic backgrounds found that men with long digits, particularly ring finger, scored highest on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), a widely used means of detecting depression. Testosterone has long been associated with depression but the mechanism is not understood.
Genetics and environmental factors, of course, play key roles: finger length is only one factor determining people’s makeup.
Manning has just published The Finger Book, which explains more about this intriguing theory. You can read more about it here.
How to find your finger ratio:
Place your right hand palm up. Measure the length of your index finger, from where it joins your palm to the tip.
Measure your ring finger in the same way.
Divide the length of the index finger by that of the ring finger to calculate your ‘finger ratio’.
The average ratio for women is 1. The average ratio for men is 0.98.
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Related sources:
The Finger Book
What they say about men with long ring fingers
Left Handedness & Finger Asymmetry
Giving Science the Finger
Digit Ratio & Agression
Finger Length & Facial Characteristics
Finger Length & Children's exam results
Finger Length & Osteoarthritis
Pointing a Finger at Sports Success
Double Digits
Talk to the Hand
More HAND NEWS
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