Original articlesSecond to fourth digit ratio in elite musicians: Evidence for musical ability as an honest signal of male fitness
Section snippets
Methods
Our subjects were 70 symphony musicians (54 men and 16 women) who were recruited from a British symphony orchestra (the Orchestra requested anonymity). The male sample consisted of the following instrument groups: violin (15 subjects), viola (6), cello (6), horn (6), bass (5), trombone (3), percussion (3), bassoon (3), clarinet (2), oboe (1), flute (1), trumpet (1), tuba (1), and timpani (1). The female sample included violin (5 subjects), viola (5), cello (2), harp (1), piccolo (1), oboe (1),
Results
Repeatabilities were high for the 2D:4D ratio (r1 = .99), and the ratio of within-subject measurement error to between-subject differences in 2D:4D was significant (model II analysis of variance, F = 270.43, p = .0001) (Zar, 1984). We concluded that our 2D:4D ratios represented real differences between our subjects.
Mean ages of our musician and control samples were similar (males, musicians [SD] years and controls , t = 0.14, p = .89; females, musicians
Discussion
Our sample of elite male musicians had lower 2D:4D ratios than the population norms. There was evidence of significant relationships between 2D:4D ratio and ranking of male musicians within the orchestra. Low 2D:4D was associated with high rank. We found no evidence that 2D:4D was related to mechanical advantage in the playing of particular instruments. Furthermore, female representation in seats close to the orchestra was greater than expected by chance.
Our results are consistent with an
Acknowledgements
Our thanks to the orchestra for permission to measure and to our subjects, musicians, and nonmusicians who showed great patience in allowing us to measure their digits.
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