Digit ratio (2D:4D) predicts and pro-social behavior in economic games: No direct correlation

Brañas-Garza, Pablo and Espín, Antonio M. and Garcia, Teresa and Kovářík, Jaromír (2018): Digit ratio (2D:4D) predicts and pro-social behavior in economic games: No direct correlation.

Abstract

Prenatal exposure to hormones, and to sex hormones in particular, exerts organizational effects on the brain and these have observable behavioral correlates in adult life. There are reasons to expect that social behaviors—which are fundamental for the evolutionary success of humans—might be related to biological factors such as prenatal sex hormone exposure. Nevertheless, the existing literature is inconclusive as to whether and how prenatal exposure to testosterone and estrogen, proxied by the second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D), may predict non-selfish behavior. Here, we investigate this question using economic experiments with real monetary stakes and analyzing five different dimensions of social behavior in a comparatively large sample of Caucasian participants to guarantee statistical power (n=560). For both males and females, our results show no robust association between right- or left-hand 2D:4D and generosity, bargaining, or trust-related behaviors. We conclude therefore that there is no correlation between 2D:4D and social behavior in economic games.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Social Preferences, Economic Games, Digit Ratio, Life Satisfaction
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C9 - Design of Experiments > C91 - Laboratory, Individual Behavior; D - Microeconomics > D6 - Welfare Economics > D63 - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement; D - Microeconomics > D6 - Welfare Economics > D64 - Altruism ; Philanthropy

References

Abeler, J., & Nosenzo, D. (2015). Self-selection into laboratory experiments: pro-social motives versus monetary incentives. Experimental Economics, 18(2), 195-214.

Allaway, H.C., Bloski, T.G., Pierson, R.A., & Lujan, M.E. (2009). Digit ratios (2D:4D) determined by computer-assisted analysis are more reliable than those using physical measurements, photocopies, and printed scans. American Journal of Human Biology; 21: 365–370.

Al-Ubaydli, O., Jones, G., & Weel, J. (2016). Average player traits as predictors of cooperation in a repeated prisoner's dilemma. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 64, 50-60.

Auger, J., Le Denmat, D., Berges, R., Doridot, L., Salmon, B., Canivenc-Lavier, M. C., & Eustache, F. (2013). Environmental levels of oestrogenic and antiandrogenic compounds feminize digit ratios in male rats and their unexposed male progeny. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 280(1768), 20131532.

Auyeung, B., Baron-Cohen, S., Ashwin, E., Knickmeyer, R., Taylor, K., Hackett, G., & Hines, M. (2009). Fetal testosterone predicts sexually differentiated childhood behavior in girls and in boys. Psychological Science, 20(2), 144-148.

Axelrod, R., & Hamilton, W. D. (1981). The evolution of cooperation. Science, 211(4489), 1390-1396.

Baron-Cohen, S., Knickmeyer, R. C., & Belmonte, M. K. (2005). Sex differences in the brain: implications for explaining autism. Science, 310(5749), 819-823.

Bartels, M., Van den Berg, S. M., Sluyter, F., Boomsma, D. I., de Geus, E. J. C. (2003). Heritability of cortisol levels: Review and simultaneous analysis of twin studies. Psychoneuroendocrinology 28:121–137.

Berenbaum, S. A., & Beltz, A. M. (2011). Sexual differentiation of human behavior: effects of prenatal and pubertal organizational hormones. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 32(2), 183-200.

Bohnet, I., & Zeckhauser, R. (2004). Trust, risk and betrayal. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 55(4), 467-484.

Bos, P. A., Terburg, D., & Van Honk, J. (2010). Testosterone decreases trust in socially naive humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(22), 9991-9995.

Bosch-Domènech, A., Brañas-Garza, P., & Espín, A. M. (2014). Can exposure to prenatal sex hormones (2D: 4D) predict cognitive reflection? Psychoneuroendocrinology, 43, 1-10.

Brañas-Garza, P., Galizzi, M., & Nieboer, J. (2018). Experimental and self-reported measures of risk taking and digit ratio (2D: 4D): evidence from a large, systematic study. International Economic Review, 59(3): 1131-1157.

Brañas-Garza, P., Kovářík, J., & Neyse, L. (2013). Second-to-fourth digit ratio has a non-monotonic impact on altruism. PLoS ONE, 8(4), e60419.

Brañas-Garza, P., & Rustichini, A. (2011). Organizing effects of testosterone and economic behavior: Not just risk taking. PLoS ONE, 6(12), e29842.

Brañas-Garza, P., Cobo-Reyes, R. & Domínguez, A. (2006). Si él lo necesita: Gypsy fairness in Vallecas. Experimental Economics 9(3): 253-264.

Burks, S. V., Carpenter, J. P., Goette, L., & Rustichini, A. (2009). Cognitive skills affect economic preferences, strategic behavior, and job attachment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(19), 7745-7750.

Burnham, T. C. (2007). High-testosterone men reject low ultimatum game offers. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 274(1623), 2327-2330.

Buser, T. (2012). Digit ratios, the menstrual cycle and social preferences. Games and Economic Behavior, 76(2), 457-470.

Buskens, V., Raub, W., Van Miltenburg, N., Montoya, E. R., & Van Honk, J. (2016). Testosterone administration moderates effect of social environment on Trust in Women Depending on second-to-fourth digit ratio. Scientific Reports, 6, 27655.

Cabrales, A., Espín, A. M., Kujal, P., & Rassenti, S. (2017). Humans' (incorrect) distrust of reflective decisions. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2945364.

Capraro, V., Corgnet, B., Espín, A. M., & Hernán-González, R. (2017). Deliberation favours social efficiency by making people disregard their relative shares: evidence from USA and India. Royal Society Open Science, 4(2), 160605.

Cecchi, F., Duchoslav, J. (2018). The Effect of Prenatal Stress on Cooperation: Evidence from Violent Conflict in Uganda, European Economic Review, 101: 35-56.

Cesarini, D., Dawes, C. T., Fowler, J. H., Johannesson, M., Lichtenstein, P., & Wallace, B. (2008). Heritability of cooperative behavior in the trust game. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(10), 3721-3726.

Cesarini, D., Dawes, C. T., Johannesson, M., Lichtenstein, P., & Wallace, B. (2009). Genetic variation in preferences for giving and risk taking. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 124(2), 809-842.

Chen, C., Decety, J., Huang, P. C., Chen, C. Y., & Cheng, Y. (2016). Testosterone administration in females modulates moral judgment and patterns of brain activation and functional connectivity. Human Brain Mapping, 37(10), 3417-3430.

Cohen-Bendahan, C. C., Van de Beek, C., & Berenbaum, S. A. (2005). Prenatal sex hormone effects on child and adult sex-typed behavior: methods and findings. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 29(2), 353-384.

Corgnet, B., Espín, A. M., & Hernán-González, R. (2015). The cognitive basis of social behavior: cognitive reflection overrides antisocial but not always prosocial motives. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 9, 287.

Corgnet, B., Espín, A. M., Hernán-González, R., Kujal, P., & Rassenti, S. (2016). To trust, or not to trust: cognitive reflection in trust games. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 64, 20-27.

Croson, R., & Gneezy, U. (2009). Gender differences in preferences. Journal of Economic Literature, 47(2), 448-74.

Cueva, C., Iturbe-Ormaetxe, I., Mata-Pérez, E., Ponti, G., Sartarelli, M., Yu, H., & Zhukova, V. (2016). Cognitive (ir) reflection: New experimental evidence. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 64, 81-93.

Davis, E. P., & Sandman, C. A. (2010). The timing of prenatal exposure to maternal cortisol and psychosocial stress is associated with human infant cognitive development. Child Development, 81(1), 131-148.

De Neys, W., Hopfensitz, A., & Bonnefon, J. F. (2013). Low second-to-fourth digit ratio predicts indiscriminate social suspicion, not improved trustworthiness detection. Biology Letters, 9(2), 20130037.

Ebstein, R. P., Israel, S., Chew, S. H., Zhong, S., & Knafo, A. (2010). Genetics of human social behavior. Neuron, 65(6), 831-844.

Eisenegger, C., Haushofer, J., & Fehr, E. (2011). The role of testosterone in social interaction. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(6), 263-271.

Eisenegger, C., Naef, M., Snozzi, R., Heinrichs, M., & Fehr, E. (2010). Prejudice and truth about the effect of testosterone on human bargaining behaviour. Nature 463, 356–359.

Ermisch, J., Gambetta, D., Laurie, H., Siedler, T., & Noah Uhrig, S. C. (2009). Measuring people's trust. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A, 172(4), 749-769.

Espín, A. M., Exadaktylos, F., & Neyse, L. (2016a). Heterogeneous motives in the trust game: a tale of two roles. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 728.

Espín, A. M., Moreno-Herrero, D., Sánchez-Campillo, J., & Martín-Rodríguez, J. A. (2016b). Do envy and compassion pave the way to unhappiness? Social preferences and life satisfaction in a Spanish city. Journal of Happiness Studies, 1-27.

Espinosa, M. P., & Kovářík, J. (2015). Prosocial behavior and gender. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 9, 88.

Fehr, E., & Fischbacher, U. (2003). The nature of human altruism. Nature, 425(6960), 785.

Al-Zaid, F. S., Alhader, A. A., & Al-Ayadhi, L. Y. (2015). The second to fourth digit ratio (2D: 4D) in Saudi boys with autism: A potential screening tool. Early Human Development, 91(7), 413-415.

Frederick, S. (2005). Cognitive reflection and decision making. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19(4), 25-42.

Fries, A. B. W., Ziegler, T. E., Kurian, J. R., Jacoris, S., & Pollak, S. D. (2005). Early experience in humans is associated with changes in neuropeptides critical for regulating social behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102(47), 17237-17240.

Galizzi, M. M., & Nieboer, J. (2015). Digit ratio (2D: 4D) and altruism: evidence from a large, multi-ethnic sample. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 9.

Güth, W., Schmittberger, R., & Schwarze, B. (1982). An experimental analysis of ultimatum bargaining. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 3(4), 367-388.

Harris, J. A., Vernon, P. A., & Boomsma, D. I. (1998). The heritability of testosterone: A study of Dutch adolescent twins and their parents. Behavior Genetics, 28(3),165–171.

Henrich, J., Boyd, R., Bowles, S., Camerer, C., Fehr, E., Gintis, H., McElreath, R., Alvard, M., Barr, A., Ensminger, J. & Henrich, N. S. (2005). “Economic man” in cross-cultural perspective: Behavioral experiments in 15 small-scale societies. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28(6), 795-815.

Henrich, J., Heine, S. J., & Norenzayan, A. (2010). The weirdest people in the world?. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2-3), 61-83.

Herrmann, B., Thöni, C., & Gächter, S. (2008). Antisocial punishment across societies. Science, 319(5868), 1362-1367.

Kemper, C. J., & Schwerdtfeger, A. (2009). Comparing indirect methods of digit ratio (2D:4D) measurement. American Journal of Human Biology, 21(2), 188–191

Knickmeyer, R., Baron‐Cohen, S., Raggatt, P., & Taylor, K. (2005). Foetal testosterone, social relationships, and restricted interests in children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46(2), 198-210.

Kovářík, J., Brañas-Garza, P., Davidson, M. W., Haim, D. A., Carcelli, S., & Fowler, J. H. (2017). Digit ratio (2D: 4D) and social integration: An effect of prenatal sex hormones. Network Science, 5(4), 476-489.

Lombardo, M. V., Ashwin, E., Auyeung, B., Chakrabarti, B., Lai, M. C., Taylor, K., ... & Baron-Cohen, S. (2012). Fetal programming effects of testosterone on the reward system and behavioral approach tendencies in humans. Biological Psychiatry, 72(10), 839-847.

Lutchmaya, S., Baron-Cohen, S., Raggatt, P., Knickmeyer, R., & Manning, J. T. (2004). 2nd to 4th digit ratios, fetal testosterone and estradiol. Early Human Development, 77(1), 23-28.

Manning, J. T. (2002). Digit ratio: A Pointer to Fertility, Behavior, and Health. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Manning, J. T., Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., & Sanders, G. (2001). The 2nd to 4th digit ratio and autism. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 43(3), 160-164.

Manning, J. T., Churchill, A. J., & Peters, M. (2007). The effects of sex, ethnicity, and sexual orientation on self-measured digit ratio (2D: 4D). Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36(2), 223-233.

Manning, J.T. & Fink, B., 2008. Digit ratio (2D:4D), dominance, reproductive success, asymmetry, and sociosexuality in the BBC Internet Study. American Journal of Human Biology, (20), pp.451-461.

Mazur A., & Booth, A. (1998). Testosterone and dominance in men. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21(3), 353-363.

Millet, K. (2011). An interactionist perspective on the relation between 2D: 4D and behavior: An overview of (moderated) relationships between 2D: 4D and economic decision making. Personality and Individual Differences, 51(4), 397-401.

Millet, K., & Buehler, F. (2018). A Context Dependent Interpretation of Inconsistencies in 2D: 4D findings: The moderating role of status relevance. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 11, 254.

Millet, K., & Dewitte, S. (2006). Second to fourth digit ratio and cooperative behavior. Biological Psychology, 71(1), 111-115.

Millet, K., & Dewitte, S. (2007). Digit ratio (2D: 4D) moderates the impact of an aggressive music video on aggression. Personality and Individual Differences, 43(2), 289-294.

Millet, K., & Dewitte, S. (2009). The presence of aggression cues inverts the relation between digit ratio (2D: 4D) and prosocial behaviour in a dictator game. British Journal of Psychology, 100(1), 151-162

Neyse, L. & Brañas-Garza, P. (2014): Digit Ratio Measurement Guide. Munich Repository 54134.

Nowak, M. A. (2006). Five rules for the evolution of cooperation. Science, 314(5805), 1560-1563.

Parslow, E., Ranehill, E., Zethraeus, N., Blomberg, L., von Schoultz, B., Lind , A. Johannesson, M., & Dreber, A. (2018). The digit ratio (2D:4D) and economic preferences: no robust associations in a sample of 330 women. mimeo.

Repetti, R. L., Taylor, S. E., & Seeman, T. E. (2002). Risky families: family social environments and the mental and physical health of offspring. Psychological Bulletin, 128(2), 330.

Romano, M., Rubolini, D., Martinelli, R., Alquati, A. B., & Saino, N. (2005). Experimental manipulation of yolk testosterone affects digit length ratios in the ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus). Hormones and Behavior, 48(3), 342-346.

Ronay, R., & Galinsky, A. D. (2011). Lex talionis: Testosterone and the law of retaliation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47(3), 702-705.

Ryckmans, J., Millet, K., & Warlop, L. (2015). The influence of facial characteristics on the relation between male 2D: 4D and dominance. PLoS ONE, 10(11), e0143307.

Sanchez-Pages, S., & Turiegano, E. (2010). Testosterone, facial symmetry and cooperation in the prisoners' dilemma. Physiology & Behavior, 99(3), 355-361.

Sanchez-Pages, S., & Turiegano, E. (2013). Two studies on the interplay between social preferences and individual biological features. Behaviour, 150(7), 713-735.

Talarovičová, A., Kršková, L., & Blažeková, J. (2009). Testosterone enhancement during pregnancy influences the 2D: 4D ratio and open field motor activity of rat siblings in adulthood. Hormones and Behavior, 55(1), 235-239.

Van den Bergh, B., & Dewitte, S. (2006). Digit ratio (2D: 4D) moderates the impact of sexual cues on men's decisions in ultimatum games. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 273(1597), 2091-2095.

Van Honk, J., Montoya, E. R., Bos, P. A., Van Vugt, M., & Terburg, D. (2012). New evidence on testosterone and cooperation. Nature, 485(7399), E4.

Van Lange, P. A., De Bruin, E., Otten, W., & Joireman, J. A. (1997). Development of prosocial, individualistic, and competitive orientations: theory and preliminary evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(4), 733.

Wallace, B., Cesarini, D., Lichtenstein, P., & Johannesson, M. (2007). Heritability of ultimatum game responder behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(40), 15631-15634.

Wingfield, J. C., Maney, D. L., Breuner, C. W., Jacobs, J. D., Lynn, S., Ramenofsky, M., & Richardson, R. D. (1998). Ecological bases of hormone—behavior interactions: the “emergency life history stage”. American Zoologist, 38(1), 191-206.

Zak, P. J., Kurzban, R., Ahmadi, S., Swerdloff, R. S., Park, J., Efremidze, L., ... & Matzner, W. (2009). Testosterone administration decreases generosity in the ultimatum game. PLoS ONE, 4(12), e8330.

Zethraeus, N., Kocoska-Maras, L., Ellingsen, T., Von Schoultz, B. O., Hirschberg, A. L., & Johannesson, M. (2009). A randomized trial of the effect of estrogen and testosterone on economic behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(16), 6535-6538.

Zheng, Z. & Cohn, M. J. (2011). Developmental basis of sexually dimorphic digit ratios. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108, 201108312.

Zilioli, S., Imami, L., & Slatcher, R. B. (2015). Life satisfaction moderates the impact of socioeconomic status on diurnal cortisol slope. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 60, 91-95.