Can Finger Length and Height be an Indicator of One

1
Can Finger Length and Height be an Indicator of
Ones Aggressive Personality?

• By Nusrat Chowdhury
• Mentor Dr. Mohamedeen

2
Introduction

• Aggression has been a difficult term to provide
  one concise definition of because it encompasses
  many different types of behavior, some of which
  are not clearly related to each other.
• Wikipedia Encyclopedia defines aggression as an
  act of initiating hostilities or invasion. It can
  also be described as practice or habit of
  launching attacks, or being hostile (Aggression
  n.d.).

3
Introduction

• Moreover, it has been known for more than a
  century that the length of the index finger
  relative to the ring finger differs between men
  and women. (Finger length predicts Aggression in
  Men, 2005).
• In women, the index and ring finger are roughly
  equal in length. But in most men, the ring finger
  is longer (Finger Length n.d). This is a result
  of fetal exposure to testosterone.

4
Introduction (cont.)

• More recently however, researchers have found a
  direct correlation between finger length and the
  amount of testosterone that a fetus is exposed to
  in the womb.
• The shorter the index finger is in relation to
  the ring finger, the higher the amount of
  testosterone the man was exposed to in the womb
  (Katherine, 2001) .

5
Introduction

• Furthermore as this new research shows, the
  shorter the index finger, the more likely he is
  to be physically aggressive throughout his life(
  Bailey et al, 2004).

6
Purpose of Study

• Although, they have found a strong relation
  between the ring finger and aggression, it is
  still a mystery whether this conclusion implies
  an individuals height as well.
• Since the previous research has showed
  correlation between finger length and aggressive
  personality, it is possible that peoples height
  can also tell us something about their
  personality.
• Therefore, the purpose of this study is to
  determine if along with finger length, whether
  ones height can also be an indicator of his/her
  aggressive personality.

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Materials and Methods

• The experiment will be conducted in New York
  City. All participants will be presented with an
  informed/parental consent form (Figure 1). The
  participant will be asked to complete an
  aggression questionnaire (Figure 2).
• The aggression questionnaire consists of four
  subscales hostility (eight questions), anger
  (seven questions), verbal aggression (five
  questions) and physical aggression (nine
  questions).
• The test will use a one (extremely
  uncharacteristic of me) to five (extremely
  characteristic of me) Likert scale.

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Figure 1High School for Health Professions and
Human Services345 East 15th StreetNew York, N.Y
10003Marta Jimenez, Principal

• INFORMED CONSENT/PARENTAL
  CONSENT FORM
• Principal Investigator Nusrat Chowdhury
• Mentor Dr. H. Mohamedeen
• Introduction
• I have been asked to participate in a research
  study conducted by Nusrat Chowdhury, a student at
  H.P.H.S. This research entitled Can finger
  length and height determine an individuals
  aggressive personality? This experiment is
  designed to determine weather any correlation
  exists between individuals height, finger
  length, and their aggressive personality. The
  participants will complete an aggression
  questionnaire. The survey is composed questions
  that will evaluate individuals aggressive
  personality and it will be compared with their
  height and finger length. This will help the
  principal investigator to determine whether there
  are any correlations between a persons height,
  finger length and their aggressive personality.
• Plan and Procedure
• Parental informed consent forms will be
  distributed to high school students in grades
  9-12 and adults who are over 18. The surveys will
  be collected at the time of completion and the
  principal investigator will analyze the results.

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Parental Consent (cont.)

• Risks
• There are no potential risks or discomfort in
  this procedure.
• Potential Benefits
• This research project will help us to understand
  whether any correlation exist between a persons
  height, their finger length and aggressive
  personality. Previous studies have shown some
  correlation between finger length and aggressive
  personality. Thus, if any correlation is found
  between height and aggressive personality, then
  it will proved that not only finger length but a
  persons height can also predict whether a person
  is prone to aggression or not.
• Confidentiality
• All the surveys will be kept confidential. No
  personal information such as name, age etc will
  be seen by anyone other than the principal
  investigator and mentor.
• Voluntary Participation
• It is understood that participation in this
  study is voluntary. Refusal to participate
• will involve no penalty or loss of benefits to
  which anyone is otherwise entitled. Furthermore,
  anyone may stop participating at any time they
  choose, without penalty or loss of benefits.

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Parental Consent (cont.)

• Consent to Participate
• I certify that I have read all of the above,
  asked questions and received answers
• concerning areas I did not understand, and have
  received satisfactory answers to these questions.
  I willingly give my consent for participation in
  this research study. (A copy of this consent form
  will be given to the person signing as the
  subject or as the subject's authorized
  representative.)
• Participant's name (print)
  Participant's signature
  Date
• Parents or Guardian's name (print)
  Parent/Guardian's signature
  Date

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Questionnaire
Using the 5-point scale shown below, indicate how
uncharacteristic or characteristic each of the
following statements is in describing you. Place
your rating in the box to the right of the
statement. Gender F____ M____ Height
______________ 1 extremely uncharacteristic of
me
2 somewhat
uncharacteristic of me 3 neither
uncharacteristic nor characteristic of me 4
somewhat characteristic of me 5 extremely
characteristic of me
___ 1. Some of my friends think I am
a hothead (A)
___2. I am an
even-tempered person ___3. I flare up quickly
but get over it quickly ___4. I have trouble
controlling my temper. ___5. When frustrated, I
let my irritation show ___6. I sometimes feel
like a powder keg ready to explode ___7.
Sometimes I fly off the handle for no good reason
___8. If I have to resort to violence to protect
my rights, I will.
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Questionnaire (Cont.)
8. If I have to resort to violence to protect my
rights, I will. (P.A) ___9. I have become so mad
that I have broken things. ___10. Once in a
while, I cant control the urge to strike another
person. ___11. I have threatened people I know.
___12 Given enough provocation, I may hit
another person. ___13. I can think of no good
reason for ever hitting a person. ___14. If
somebody hits me, I hit back ___15. There are
people who pushed me so far that we came to blows
___16 I get into fights a little more than the
average person. 17. When people are especially
nice to me, I wonder what they want. (H) ___18.
I wonder why sometimes I feel so bitter about
things. ___19. I am suspicious of overly friendly
strangers. ___20. I am sometimes eaten up with
jealousy. ___21. At times I feel I have gotten a
raw deal out of life.
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Questionnaire (cont.)
22.I sometimes feel that people are laughing at
me behind my back. ___23. Other people always
seem to get the breaks ___24. I know that
friends talk about me behind my back ___25. I
tell my friends openly when I disagree with them.
(V.A) 26. I cant help getting into arguments
when people disagree with me. ___27. When people
annoy me, I may tell them what I think of them.
___28. I often find myself disagreeing with
people. ___29. My friends say that Im somewhat
argumentative.
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Materials and Methods (cont.)

• On the questionnaire the individuals' height will
  also be recorded.
• To determine the length of the finger,
  participants will also trace both of their hands
  on a graph paper attached to the questionnaire.

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Result Table 2
Individuals Height Physical Aggression Score
47 17
47 20
51 38
51 22
51 20
51 22
51 28
52 12
52 14
52 16
52 17
52 21
52 24
52 24
53 19
Individual's Height Physical Aggression Score
52 21
53 34
53 34
53 40
55 17
55 20
55 19
57 30
57 25
57 21
57 20
58 35
58 30
58 20
510 22
510 25
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Figure 5 Physical Aggression Score and Height
From this graph it can be concluded that no
significant correlation existed between ones
height and their aggressive personality.
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Result Table 1
Individuals Height Finger Length in cm
47 6
47 6.5
51 7.5
51 7.4
51 7.5
51 7.3
51 7.4
52 7.3
52 7.5
52 7
52 7.5
52 7.2
52 7
52 7.1
52 7
Individual's Height Finger Length in Cm
53 7
53 7
53 7.2
55 7.1
55 7
55 7
57 7.2
57 6.5
57 6.3
57 6.6
58 7
58 7.5
58 7.3
510 7.5
510 7.3
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Figure 1 Finger Length and Height
This comparison showed no significant result or
link between a persons height, and their finger
length.
19
Figure3 Correlation between index finger and
Aggressive personality

• However, as previously, acknowledged, that there
  is a significant relationship between a persons
  physical aggression and finger length (Figure 3).
  
• The shorter ones index finger is, the more
  aggressive he tends to be.

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Discussion

• From my experiment I have found out that my
  results correlated with the previous studies that
  have been conducted before. There was a
  correlation between mens index finger and their
  aggressive personality
• The shorter the index finger is, the more
  physically aggressive a man tend to be.
• From this trend it can be assumed that prenatal
  testosterone has a stronger effect on the trait
  of physical aggression than do adult testosterone
  levels.
• No correlation was found between a persons
  height and their aggressive personality. It is
  because an individuals finger length is
  determined by the exposure of the sex hormones
  while height is not. Therefore, it can be
  concluded testosterone plays a greater role in
  determining a mans masculinity than playing a
  significant role in determining ones height.

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Conclusion

• From my experiment it was concluded while finger
  length can tell us something about ones
  aggressive personality, height can not.
• The shorter an individuals index finger is the
  more physically aggressive they tended to be.

22
Reference

• Archer J. Brown K (1988) Human Aggression.
  The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. 6th Edition
• Bailey A.A Hurd P.L (2004) Finger length ratio
  (2D4D) correlates with physical aggression in
  men but not in women. Biological Psychology
  (Article in Press)
• Buss, A.H., Perry, M., 1992. The aggression
  questionnaire. Journal of Personality and Social
  Psychology 63, 452459.
• Katherine S (2001). The Role of Testosterone in
  Aggression. MJM 6 32-40
• Lesko, W. A. (1997). Readings in social
  psychology General, classic, and contemporary
  selections. Boston Allyn and Bacon.
• Live Science Human Boilogy Finger length predicts
  Aggression in Men (2005) http//www.livescience.c
  om/humanbiology/050203_finger_length.html

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Reference ( Cont.)

• Physiological Self Help (n.d) Anger and
  Aggression. Retrieved on November 10, 2005.
  http//mentalhelp.net/psyhelp/chap7/chap7b.htma
• Science Update ( n.d). Finger Length. Retrieved
  on November 11,2005. http//www.sciencenetlinks.or
  g/sci_update.cfm?DocID260
• Wikipedia ( n.d) Aggression Retrieved November
  9,2005. http// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aggression
• Wrong Diagnosis (n.d). Possible causes of
  symptom Aggression Retrieved on
  http//wrongdiagnosis.com/sym/aggression.htm
• Yahoo Education (n.d). Aggression Retrieved on
  October 25, 2005. Http//education.yahoo.cm/refere
  nce /encyclopedia/entry/aggression.

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Acknowledgements

• Dr. Mohamedeen
• The High School for Health Professions and Human
  Services
• Dr. Sat
• The Harlem Childrens Society
• Thank You All!