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The ratio between the length of aman's second and fourth fingers hasbeen linked to a wide range of physical andpersonality traits.

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5 Things a Man's Finger Length Says About Himby Tanya Lewis, Staff Writer | February 21, 2015 07:39am ET

Men, take a look at your right hand. Is your index finger shorter than your ring finger?

The ratio of these digits' lengths could hint at everything from personality to intellect to physiology, anumber of studies suggest.

Here are some of the things a man's finger length may say about him. [Macho Man: 10 Wild Facts AboutHis Body]

Nice to women?

Men with short index fingers and long ring fingers tend to be nicer toward women, according to a new study, to be published in the March issue of the

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journal Personality and Individual Differences. The finding could be a result of sex hormone exposure in the womb, scientists say.

In the study, more than 155 individuals (78 men and 77 women) filled out forms for every social interaction with a member of the opposite sex lastingfive minutes or longer in a three-week period, using a checklist of "agreeable" or "quarrelsome" behaviors. Men with small digit-ratios (shorter indexfingers relative to ring fingers) engaged in roughly a third more agreeable behaviors toward women, and a third fewer quarrelsome ones, than men withlarge digit-ratios, the reports showed.

Previous research has found that this "2D:4D" ratio the ratio of the length of the second digit (the index finger) to that of the fourth digit (the ringfinger) reveals the amount of male hormones, mainly testosterone, a person is exposed to in the womb. The more testosterone, the longer the ringfinger grows.

And studies have also linked this ratio to a host of other qualities.

Penis size

A smaller 2D:4D ratio has been linked to a longer stretched penis size, according to a 2011 study published in the Journal of Andrology.

The study involved 144 volunteers ages 20 and older who were undergoing urological surgery. While the men were anesthetized, researchers measuredthe lengths of the men's fingers and penises (both flaccid and stretched, which is linked to the erect penis size).

The shorter the index finger relative to the ring finger, the longer the stretched penis was likely a result of testosterone exposure in the womb, theresearchers said,

Facial attractiveness

Men who have a shorter index finger than ring finger may also have more handsome faces, suggests a 2011 study published in the journal Proceedingsof the Royal Society B.

The amount of testosterone a baby is exposed to before birth can affect how the individual's face develops, and how attractive that face is, theresearchers said.

Previous research suggests that women prefer men with masculine, cavemanlike faces. In other words, women are traditionally more attracted to menwho have relatively short, scrunched upper faces, as found in Will Smith and Brad Pitt.

SAT performance

Many of the finger-length correlations hold true in men only, but some apply to women as well.

For children of both sexes, digit ratio was linked to scores on the SAT college admission exam, a 2007 study published in the British Journal ofPsychology found.

A team of scientists made photocopies of children's palms and measured their digit ratios. Then the researches compared these measurements with boys'and girls' performances on the SAT. Both boys and girls whose index fingers were shorter than their ring fingers scored higher, on average, in the mathsection than the verbal. And girls with larger digit-ratios (ring fingers longer than index fingers) scored better on the verbal portion of the test than themath one, the study found.

Prostate cancer risk

But while having a short index finger relative to ring finger has its advantages, they may come at a price: a higher risk of prostate cancer, according to a2010 study published in the British Journal of Cancer.

Researchers looked at the ratios of these finger lengths in 1,500 prostate cancer patients and 3,000 healthy men over a period of 15 years. The scientistsasked the men to look at pictures of hands and choose the one most similar to their own.

Men whose index fingers were the same length or longer than their ring fingers were 33 percent less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer duringthe study than men whose index fingers were shorter, the study found.

The good news is, 33 percent is still a pretty small effect, so men with smaller digit ratios shouldn't be too concerned, the researchers said.

Follow Tanya Lewis on Twitter. Follow us @livescience, Facebook& Google+. Original article on Live Science.

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Tanya Lewis

Tanya has been writing for Live Science since 2013. She covers a wide array of topics, ranging from neuroscience to robotics to strange/cute animals.She received a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a bachelor of science in biomedicalengineering from Brown University. She has previously written for Science News, Wired, The Santa Cruz Sentinel, the radio show Big Picture Scienceand other places. Tanya has lived on a tropical island, witnessed volcanic eruptions and flown in zero gravity (without losing her lunch!). To find outwhat her latest project is, you can visit her website.Tanya Lewis on

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Mary Plante Weitz CoOp @ Frankfurt American Hotel,Germany Accountantlooking at all the comments that are made even though most think its a load of crap y'alland me looked at it anyway curiosity huh?Reply Like Follow Post April 4 at 8:08am1

Brittany Ferguson Irvington, New Jersey 250 followersLolReply Like Follow Post March 16 at 9:24am

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Caesar Lazaro Top Commenter Glendale Community CollegeI've almost completed my Men of Europe Collection and not all this is true...hahahaha I'm

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I've almost completed my Men of Europe Collection and not all this is true...hahahaha I'maverage which many guys are. Not all are Porno Stars...Reply Like Follow Post March 7 at 1:34am2

Jacob Woodford Top CommenterIn fact, most aren't. 5.5" evolved for a reason.Reply Like 6 minutes ago

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Quinton ParrisI bet the guys with long index fingers and short ring fingers are pissed off! HahaReply Like Follow Post March 6 at 10:34am5

James Johnson Penwith College"Correlation does not equal causation."Reply Like Follow Post March 6 at 5:21am2

Gerald Playle Chico, CaliforniaYou are right. It doesn't necessarily mean that, but it can. Although in thissituation, what you said isn't really a refute towards the study. In this, fingerlength and other aspects are correlated, but the article is hinting at thecausation is the same for finger length ratio and these other aspects. Ergo,recording one aspect, the finger length ration, gives you an idea about otheraspects.Reply Like Edited March 28 at 3:05am

Carlos Esparza SanchezMy hole hand is pretty damb bigReply Like Follow Post March 2 at 10:21pm

Anita Orion Photographer at DisneylandYeah your "HOLE" is pretty big. LOLReply Like March 31 at 8:40am6

Rajesh Dawar Montreal, QuebecWhat a waste of money spent on useless studies. Stop funding them pleaseReply Like Follow Post March 2 at 7:03am

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Zane Massey Star Command of Dank Memes at PhysioGainslol so determining different rates of prostate cancer is a waste of funding.You're just butthurt because the study doesn't reinforce anything good aboutyou.Reply Like March 19 at 9:49am

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Rajesh Dawar Montreal, QuebecCalculating the risk of cancer by the size of fingers is completely dumb andnot scientificReply Like March 19 at 9:53am1

Zane Massey Star Command of Dank Memes at PhysioGainsthe variable 'ring finger' has strong causation with the variable 'sex hormoneexposure' which determined the rate of 'prostate cancer'. just because avariable appears extraneous doesn't mean it's irrelevant. Any purported formof science that neglects statistics, is a pseudoscience my good sir.Reply Like March 19 at 10:04am

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Sean Harpur Top Commenter University of Newcastle, AustraliaI had no idea that E.T was a huge misogynist.Reply Like Follow Post March 2 at 6:24am2

John Jones A load of tripeReply Like Follow Post March 2 at 6:21am

Edward Chaffin Northwest High SchoolStop it bubblesReply Like March 30 at 8:51am3

Donatell Moss Lamar UniversityEdward Chaffin too good lolReply Like March 30 at 2:04pm

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Eddie Garcia Top Commenter Northwest Vista CollegeSo according to this article by nice, long dong, handsome self needs to mate morebefore dying of butt cancer. Cool.Reply Like Follow Post March 2 at 5:20am1

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