2D:4D Digit Ratio as Predictor of Self-Esteem - Case Study Example

Relation of 2D:4D ratio as predictor of Self Esteem Background The ratio of length of one’s second finger to the length of the fourth finger (commonly referred to as 2D:4D ratio) has become an area of active importance. The ratio has a predictive power for hormonal exposure (testosterone) of a child in utero and the subsequent effects on the psychological and psychosocial trait of an individual (Williams et al, 2000). The androgen exposure is the most commonly implicated hormonal difference pertaining to the sexual dimorphism of the 2D:4D ratio, causing men to have a lower ratio than females on an average (George, 1930). The digit ratio becomes stabilized by fourteenth week of prenatal development and remains constant throughout the life span of an individual (Garn et al, 1975). The 2D:4D ratio has been shown to be related with a wide variety of physical and psychological parameters of an individual. Endurance running has been negatively predicted by a smaller 2D:4D ratio (Manning, 2007). The smaller ratio was also predictive of success and longevity in financial traders where high stakes were involved (Coates et al, 2009). Health features like autism, breast cancer, dyslexia and myocardial infarction has been shown to be related with 2D:4D ratios (Manning et al, 2000). Females with higher 2D:4D ratios tend to rate themselves as being more attractive and rate themselves as having more self esteem than the females who had a lower ratio (Wade et al, 2004). When the prenatal androgen exposure is high males tend to become more likely to be homosexuals (Robinson and Manning, 2000). Aims and Objectives The present study aimed at exploring the hypothesis of earlier findings whether the 2D:4D ratios are more in females and whether there is a correlation between the 2D:4D ratio to the attribute of self esteem in males and females as reflected in earlier hypotheses. Methodology 50 males and 50 females were randomly selected (Appendix-1) and their 2D:4D ratios were calculated. Separately, the self esteem scores were evaluated in each individual, to predict one’s self-esteem level. Minitab software (Appendix-2) was used in the statistical analysis to provide the outputs of central and dispersive statistics. Correlation and Regression equations were predicted through scatter grams. T test was carried out to find out the significance level between the groups tested for the hypotheses in the study. Results Female DR   Female SE   Male DR   Male SE                   Mean 0.99 Mean 27.0 Mean 0.99 Mean 30.46 Standard Error 0.01 Standard Error 0.72 Standard Error 0.01 Standard Error 0.61 Median 1.00 Median 27.0 Median 0.99 Median 31.00 Mode 1.01 Mode 24.0 Mode 0.98 Mode 31.00 Standard Deviation 0.06 Standard Deviation 5.11 Standard Deviation 0.05 Standard Deviation 4.29 Sample Variance 0.00 Sample Variance 26.0 Sample Variance 0.00 Sample Variance 18.38 Kurtosis 0.73 Kurtosis -0.36 Kurtosis 0.53 Kurtosis 0.16 Skewness -0.69 Skewness -0.19 Skewness 0.10 Skewness -0.67 Range 0.28 Range   Range 0.27 Range 20.00 Minimum 0.80 Minimum   Minimum 0.86 Minimum 18.00 Maximum 1.08 Maximum 27.0 Maximum 1.13 Maximum 38.00 Sum 49.33 Sum 0.72 Sum 49.50 Sum 1523.00 Count 50.00 Count 27.00 Count 50.00 Count 50.00 Table 1: Represents the statistics of both the samples (DR= Digit ratio and SE= self esteem scores) Fig 1: Represents the difference in mean 2D:4D ratio between males and females and it reflects there is no significant difference between the digit ratios between the samples evaluated in the study. Fig 2: Represents the difference in mean self esteem scores between males and females and it reflects there is significant difference between the self esteem scores between the samples evaluated in the study. The males have a higher self esteem scores than females. F-Test Two-Sample for Variances     F-Test Two-Sample for Variances                   Female DR Male DR   Female SE Male SE Mean 0.99 0.99 Mean 27.00 30.46 Variance 0.00 0.00 Variance 26.08 18.38 Observations 50.00 50.00 Observations 50.00 50.00 df 49.00 49.00 df 49.00 49.00 F 1.30   F 1.42   P(F Read More