Comes yet another discovery about relative finger lengths. The new study is:
“Prenatal exposure to testosterone (2D:4D) and social hierarchy together predict voice behavior in bankers,” Erik Bijleveld, Joost Baalbergen, PLoS ONE, vol. 12, no. 6, June 28, 2017, e0180008. The authors, at Radboud University and Utrecht University, The Netherlands, explain:
“Prohibitive voice behaviors are employees’ expressions of concern about practices, incidents, or behaviors that may potentially harm the organization…. In a sample of bankers, we used 2D:4D (i.e., the ratio of the length of the index finger to the length of the ring finger) [and we] used a self-report scale to measure prohibitive voice. For low-ranked employees, lower 2D:4D was related to using less voice. No such relation was found for high-ranked employees. [Our] findings are consistent with the ideas that (a) people low in 2D:4D tend to strive to attain and maintain social status and that (b) remaining silent about perceived problems in the organization is—at least for low-ranked employees—a means to achieve this goal….
“In any case, by bridging management science and neuroendocrinology, this research suggests a new, biological way of thinking about people’s decisions to (not) use voice.”
We have been striving to keep up with these relative-finger-lengths discoveries, which arrive at an almost overwhelming pace. If you’re new to this exciting field, you might begin by reading about Relative Finger Lengths and Russian Wages, or the relative finger lengths of Sumo wrestlers. For early background, at some length, lay your hands on the special “Meaning of the Finger” issue (September/October, vol. 13, no. 5) of the Annals of Improbable Research.