LONDON, UK, January 16, 2008: [HPI note: Hindu pundits have long resorted to palmistry for life readings and marriage compatibilities. The BBC brings a scientific research on the relative size of one’s fingers.]
The length of a man’s fingers may predict his success in the City, research findings suggest. Scientists at Cambridge University found that financial traders whose ring fingers are longer than their index fingers make the most money.
The link could be down to testosterone exposure in the womb, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says. This exposure may improve rapid decision-making skills and has been linked with aggression. The same ring-to-index finger ratio, which is determined in the womb, has previously been associated with success in competitive sports.
Their latest findings are based on a study of 44 men working as traders in London, some of whom earned more than #4 million a year. Over 20 months those traders with longer ring fingers made 11 times more money than those with the shortest ring fingers relative to their index fingers.
This “biological” impact on success was about equal to years of experience at the job. The most experienced traders made about nine times more than the least experienced ones.
When the researchers looked only at the experienced traders, those with longer ring fingers earned far more than those with shorter ring fingers – US$1,232,000 compared to $226,000 on average, respectively.
Meanwhile, Belgian researchers have found men with longer ring fingers become less “socially minded” – less willing to give money to a fellow participant – after watching aggressive movies. The reverse was also true – those with shorter ring fingers gave away the most money.