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CAN BODY PROPORTIONS SERVE AS A PREDICTOR OF RISK-TAKING BEHAVIOURS IN WOMEN AND MEN?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2016

Anna Kasielska-Trojan ,
Piotr Stabryła  and
Bogusław Antoszewski
Anna Kasielska-Trojan*
Affiliation:
Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery Clinic, University Hospital No. 1, Łódź, Poland
Piotr Stabryła
Affiliation:
Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery Clinic, University Hospital No. 1, Łódź, Poland
Bogusław Antoszewski
Affiliation:
Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery Clinic, Institute of Surgery, Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland
*
1Corresponding author. Email: annakas@toya.net.pl
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Summary

The second to fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) is claimed to be a biomarker of prenatal sex steroids. This study compared 2D:4D and waist–hip ratio (WHR) in men and women with nose deformity caused by injuries suggesting risky behaviour with those of unaffected controls. This kind of facial trauma was accepted as an indicator of risk-taking behaviour. The study involved 100 patients (50 women aged 30.74±8.09 years and 50 men aged 30.98±10.86 years) who underwent rhinoplasty due to nose trauma in a hospital in Łódź, Poland, in 2015. For comparison purposes, a control sample of 70 women (aged 23.03±3.36 years) and 70 men (aged 22.87±3.46 years) was recruited. In both groups the following measurements were taken: body height, waist and hip circumferences, II and IV digit lengths and body weight. The results showed that women and men who had suffered nose injury had significantly higher values of WHR than controls. The 2D:4D in women with post-traumatic nose deformity was significantly different than the ratio in control women (p<0.0001) and presented the male pattern. It is concluded that in women risky behaviours seem to be associated with prenatal sex hormone influence, while differences in WHR suggest that this tendency is also related to postnatal hormonal factors. Risky behaviours in men should be linked to postnatal hormonal changes rather than to increased prenatal androgen exposure.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 49 , Issue 5 , September 2017 , pp. 567 - 577
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2016 

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