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Original Communications

Digit Ratio (2D:4D) and Behavioral Responses to Everyday Life and Workplace-Related Interpersonal Conflict

Published Online:February 02, 2010https://doi.org/10.1024/1421-0185/a000004

Abstract

Relationships of second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) versus absolute finger length, two putative markers for prenatal vs. pubertal-adolescent testosterone exposure, with specific behavioral responses to interpersonal conflict, as assessed with the Conflict Dynamics Profile (CDP; Davis, Capobianco, & Kraus, 2004), were examined in an adult community sample of 132 men and women. Paralleling related findings for specific types of aggression (namely, reactive and indirect, i.e., social/relational aggression), results showed analogous sex differences for conflict-related behaviors. Specifically, women scored significantly higher than men on the CDP Hot Buttons component, assessing upset in response to workplace-related conflict elicited by problematic behavior of workmates. Among women (but not men), higher Hot Button scores corresponded significantly to higher prenatal testosterone (indexed by lower 2D:4D). Extending previous evidence for associations between 2D:4D and aggression, this suggests possible contributions of prenatal sex-hormonal masculinization to within-sex individual variation in specific types of conflict-related behavior.

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