Finger length may predict financial success
The length of a man's ring finger may predict his success as a financial trader. Researchers at the University of Cambridge in England report that men with longer ring fingers, compared to their index fingers, tended to be more successful in the frantic high-frequency trading in the London financial district.
Indeed, the impact of biology on success was about equal to years of experience at the job, the team led by physiologist John M. Coates reports in Monday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The same ring-to-index finger ratio has previously been associated with success in competitive sports such as soccer and basketball, the researchers noted.
The length ratio between those two fingers is determined during the development of the fetus and the relatively longer ring finger indicates greater exposure to the male hormone androgen, the researchers noted.
Previous studies have found that such exposure can lead to increased confidence, risk preferences, search persistence, heightened vigilance and quickened reaction times.
In the new study, the researchers measured the right hands of 44 male stock traders who were engaged in a type of trade that involved rapid decision-making and quick physical reactions.
Over 20 months those with longer ring fingers compared to their index fingers made 11 times more money than those with the shortest ring fingers. Over the same time the most experienced traders made about 9 times more than the least experienced ones.
Looking only at experienced traders, the long-ring-finger folks earned 5 times more than those with short ring fingers.
While the finger ratio, showing fetal exposure to male hormones, appears to signal likely success in high-actively trading that calls for risk-taking and quick reactions, it may not indicate people who would do well at other sorts of financial activities, the researchers said.

 
只要看男性无名指的长度，就可以“预测”他能否成为一名成功的金融交易员。英国剑桥大学的研究人员日前发表研究报告称，无名指比食指长的人更适合在伦敦金融区从事高强度的金融交易工作。
而且这种生理影响差不多相当于几年的工作经验。由生理学家约翰•M•柯茨领衔的研究小组在本周一出版的《国家科学院院刊》上公布了上述研究成果。
研究人员称，此前有研究发现无名指与食指长度的比例与是否擅长足球、篮球等竞技体育项目有关。
无名指与食指的长度比例是胎儿在发育过程中形成的，如果无名指相对较长，则表明胎儿在发育过程中较多受到了雄性激素的刺激。
此前的研究表明，这种刺激会使人今后更具自信、敢于冒险、做事持久、警觉性高，而且反应会更加灵敏。
在此项最新研究中，研究人员测量了44位男性股票交易员右手的手指长度。他们所从事的工作需要快速的决断和反应。
研究发现，在过去20个月中，无名指相对较长的交易员赚的钱为无名指最短交易员的11倍。在同一阶段内，最有经验的交易员赚的钱约为最没经验交易员的9倍。
如果只在经验丰富的交易员中进行比较，无名指较长的人赚的钱为无名指较短者的5倍。
研究人员称，手指长度比例可反映胎儿期所受雄性激素刺激的水平，尽管可从这一比例中预测人们是否适合从事需要冒风险及迅速反应的高强度金融交易工作，但这并不是说有这种生理特征的人在从事其它金融活动时也会很出色。