Gay finger
Finger length 'could provide a clue' to one's sexual orientation, study finds
The length of one’s index and ring fingers could be linked to sexual orientation, according to a new study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.
The relationship between finger length and sexuality was only evident, however, in females, according to the report by researchers from the University of Essex, who examined 32 sets of identical twins with different sexual orientations.
Typically in women, the index and ring fingers are similar in length, while in men there is a greater difference between the two fingers. However, lesbians were found to contain more “male-typical” finger-length ratios than their straight co-twins — but just in their left hand.
“This suggests that the female twins who identified as lesbian may have been exposed to higher levels of testosterone than their straight co-twins during prior development,” Tuesday Watts, a psychology lecturer and the study’s lead author, told NBC News via email.
While the nonstraight female twins had a lower index-finger-to-ring-
Sexuality: Your Telltale Fingertips
Look down at your right hand. Is your ring finger longer than your index finger? Or vice versa? To be certain, take a ruler and measure from the bottom crease of each finger to the tip.
The measurements narrate you something about the environment of your mother's womb just weeks after your conception, a time when your fingers, and more importantly, your brain, were developing. Because of the influx of sex hormones at this prenatal stage, men verb to have chime fingers that are slightly longer than their index fingers. In women, these fingers are usually the same length or the index digit is just a bit longer.
Digits are subtly affected by testosterone and estrogen produced in the womb by the fetus (not by the mother). Between weeks 8 and 14, tiny fetal testes, ovaries and adrenal glands secrete the baby's own supply of sex hormones. These chemical messengers, particularly testosterone, cause chain reactions in the body, spurring the growth of the genitals, encouraging and inhibiting growth in brain regions and causing changes in the fingers.
Length of ring and index fingers 'linked to sexuality'
Women whose left index and ring fingers are different lengths are more likely to be lesbians, a study suggests.
Scientists measured the fingers of 18 pairs of female identical twins, where one was straight and the other gay.
On average, the lesbians, but not the straight twins, had different sized index and ring fingers, typically a male trait, but only on the left hand.
This may be the result of exposure to more testosterone in the womb, the University of Essex researchers said.
The scientists also measured the fingers of 14 pairs of male identical twins, where one was straight and the other gay, but found no link.
Both men and women were exposed to the "male" hormone, testosterone, in the womb - but some may be exposed more than others, the scientists said.
Study author Dr Tuesday Watts, from the psychology department at Essex University, said: "Because identical twins, who share % of their genes, can differ in their sexual orientations, fac
The length of your finger could provide clues to your sexuality, according to a study published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.
In women, the index (second) finger and ring (fourth) fingers are typically of similar length, while in men there is usually a greater difference between the two (shorter index fingers and longer sound fingers).
Previous studies own suggested that there may be a link between prenatal hormone levels and differences in finger length, with those exposed to higher levels of the hormone testosterone more likely to possess "male-typical hands". In the womb, both males and females are exposed to testosterone.
For their analyze, a team from the University of Essex in the U.K. examined sets of identical twins (14 male and 18 female) with different sexual orientations.
"We are interested in investigating the factors that contribute to such a fundamental difference between these genetically identical individuals," Tuesday Watts, conduct author of the study from Essex's Department of Psychology, told Newsweek. "The motivation for this study was to inve