Finger length can predict sexuality in women say researchers

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDOct 19 2018

Researchers from the Psychology department of Essex University have made claims that take us back to medieval ages of palmistry and predictions but could have a biological basis.

Researchers led by Dr. Tuesday Watts have found that women who have different sizes of ring and index fingers in the left hands are more likely to be gay. The study results were published in the latest issue of the journal Archives of Sexual Behaviour.

Image Credit: Nataliia Melnychuk / Shutterstock

The study and the claim is based on measuring only 18 pairs of hands of identical female twins. One of these twins were straight while the other was a lesbian or homosexual. They noted that the gay twin had a more masculine hand with different sizes of index and ring fingers on their left hand.

The researchers explain that this could be due to the influence of male hormone testosterone on the twin while still inside the womb. The researchers repeated the experiment among 14 pairs of male twins and results were not conclusive.

According to Dr. Watts, identical twins are identical in their genetic make up and there have to be other factors that lead to these differences in sexuality.

The actual differences could be due to the factors in the womb that could determine the sexuality, Watts explained. Watts added that those who are exposed to higher levels of testosterone are more likely to be bisexual or homosexual compare to those who are not. Hormone levels are more likely to cause the differences in the finger length say the researchers.

Source: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-018-1262-z