Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T15:25:51.390Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Auger, J. & Eustache, F. (2011) Second to fourth digit ratios, male genital development and reproductive health: a clinical study among fertile men and testis cancer patients. International Journal of Andrology 34, 49–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
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, 215–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benderlioglu, Z. & Nelson, R. J. (2004) Digit length ratios predict reactive aggression in women, but not in men. Hormones and Behavior 46, 558–564.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breedlove, S. M. (2010) Organizational hypothesis: instances of the fingerpost. Endocrinology 151, 4116–4122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burriss, R. P., Little, A. C. & Nelson, E. C. (2007) 2D:4D and sexually dimorphic facial characteristics. Archives of Sexual Behavior 36, 377–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, L. & Hoskin, A. W. (2015) Criminality and the 2D:4D ratio testing the prenatal androgen hypothesis. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 59, 295–312.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Galis, F., Ten Broek, C. M., Van Dongen, S. & Wijnaendts, L. C. (2010) Sexual dimorphism in the prenatal digit ratio (2D:4D). Archives of Sexual Behavior 39, 57–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanoch, Y., Gummerum, M. & Rolison, J. (2012) Second-to-fourth digit ratio and impulsivity: a comparison between offenders and nonoffenders. PLoS One 7, e 47140.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Iijima, M., Arisaka, O. & Minamoto, F. (2001) Sex differences in children’s free drawings: a study on girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Hormones and Behavior 40, 90–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joyce, C. W., Kelly, J. C., Chan, J. C., Colgan, G., O’Briain, D., McCabe, J. P. & Curtin, W. (2013) Second to fourth digit ratio confirms aggressive tendencies in patients with boxers fractures. Injury 11, 1636–1639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kasielska-Trojan, A. & Antoszewski, B. (2015) Can digit ratio (2D:4D) studies be helpful in explaining the aetiology of idiopathic gynecomastia? Early Human Development 91, 57–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lu, H., Ma, Z., Zhao, J. & Huo, Z. (2015) Second to fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) and coronary heart disease. Early Human Development 91, 417–420.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McIntyre, M. H., Ellison, P. T., Lieberman, D. E., Demerath, E. & Towne, B. (2005) The development of sex differences in digital formula from infancy in the Fels Longitudinal Study. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 272, 1473–1479.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mailhos, A., Buunk, A., del Arca, D. & Tutte, V. (Soccer players awarded one or more red cards exhibit lower 2D:4D. Aggressive Behavior (in press).Google Scholar
Malas, M. A., Dogan, S., Evcil, E. H. & Desdicioglu, K. (2006) Fetal development of the hand, digits and digit ratio (2D:4D). Early Human Development 82, 469–475.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manning, J. T. (2002) The ratio of 2nd to 4th digit length and performance in skiing. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 42, 446–450.Google ScholarPubMed
Manning, J. T. (2011) Resolving the role of prenatal sex steroids in the development of digit ratio. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108, 16143–16144.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manning, J. T. & Bundred, P. E. (2000) The ratio of 2nd to 4th digit length: a new predictor of disease predisposition? Medical Hypotheses 54, 855–857.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manning, J. T. & Leinster, S. J. (2001) The ratio of 2nd to 4th digit length and age at presentation of breast cancer: a link with prenatal oestrogen? Breast 10, 355–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manning, J. T. & Taylor, R. (2001) Second to fourth digit ratio and male ability in sport: implications for sexual selection in humans. Evolution and Human Behavior 22, 61–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manning, J. T., Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S. & Sanders, G. (2001) The 2nd to 4th digit ratio and autism. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology 43, 160–164.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manning, J. T., Scutt, D., Wilson, J. & Lewis-Jones, D. I. (1998) The ratio of 2nd to 4th digit length: a predictor of sperm numbers and concentrations of testosterone, luteinizing hormone and oestrogen. Human Reproduction 13, 3000–3004.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mondragón-Ceballos, R., García Granados, M. D., Cerda-Molina, A. L., Chavira-Ramírez, R. & Hernández-López, L. E. (2015) Waist-to-Hip ratio, but not body mass index, is associated with testosterone and estradiol concentrations in young women. International Journal of Endocrinology, Article 654046.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moskowitz, D. S., Sutton, R., Zuroff, D. C. & Young, S. N. (2015) Fetal exposure to androgens, as indicated by digit ratios (2D:4D), increases men’s agreeableness with women. Personality and Individual Differences 75, 97–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muller, D. C., Baglietto, L., Manning, J. T., McLean, C., Hopper, J. L., English, D. R., Giles, G. G. & Severi, G. (2012) Second to fourth digit ratio (2D:4D), breast cancer risk factors, and breast cancer risk: a prospective cohort study. British Journal of Cancer 107, 1631–1636.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nordenström, A., Servin, A., Bohlin, G., Larsson, A. & Wedell, A. (2002) Sex-typed toy play behavior correlates with the degree of prenatal androgen exposure assessed by CYP21 genotype in girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 87, 5119–5124.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perciavalle, V., Di Corrado, D., Petralia, M. C., Gurrisi, L., Massimino, S. & Coco, M. (2013) The second-to-fourth digit ratio correlates with aggressive behavior in professional soccer players. Molecular Medicine Reports 7, 1733–1738.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rahman, A. A., Lophatananon, A., Stewart-Brown, S., Harriss, D., Anderson, J. & Parker, T. (2011) Hand pattern indicates prostate cancer risk. British Journal of Cancer 104, 175–177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Singh, D. (1993) Adaptive significance of female physical attractiveness: role of waist-to-hip ratio. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 65, 293–307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stenstrom, E., Saad, G., Nepomuceno, M.V. & Mendenhall, Z. (2011) Testosterone and domain-specific risk: digit ratios (2D:4D and rel2) as predictors of recreational, financial, and social risk-taking behaviors. Personality and Individual Differences 51, 412–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swaab, D. F. (2007) Best practice & research: sexual differentiation of the brain and behavior. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 21, 431–444.Google Scholar
Tester, N. & Campbell, A. (2007) Sporting achievement: what is the contribution of digit ratio? Journal of Personality 75, 663–677.Google ScholarPubMed
Wie, X., He, M., Liu, R., Dong, Z., Xie, J., Wang, D. & Yu, S. (2015) The second to fourth digit ratio (2D:4D): a risk factor of migraine and tension-type headache. Journal of Headache and Pain 16, 11.Google Scholar
Zheng, Z. & Cohn, M. J. (2011) Developmental basis of sexually dimorphic digit ratios. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108, 16289–16294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed