Born to be wild: Second-to-fourth digit length ratio and risk preferences

Brian Finley, Adriaan Kalwij*, Arie Kapteyn

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The second-to-fourth digit length ratio of an individual's hand (digit ratio) is a putative biomarker for prenatal exposure to testosterone. We examine the hypothesized negative association between the digit ratio and the preference for risk taking within a large U.S. population survey. Our statistical framework provides a cardinal proxy for the true digit ratio based on ordinal digit ratio measurements and accounts for measurement error under the assumptions of Gaussianity and time-invariant true digit ratios. Our empirical findings support the hypothesis and suggest a meaningful biological basis for risk preferences.

Original languageEnglish
Article number101178
Number of pages11
JournalEconomics and Human Biology
Volume47
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2022

Keywords

  • Digit ratio
  • Measurement error
  • Risk preferences
  • U.S. survey data

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