Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/219006 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research No. 1086
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
The digit ratio (2D:4D) is considered a proxy for testosterone exposure in utero, and there has been a recent surge of studies testing whether 2D:4D is associated with economic preferences. Although the results are not conclusive, previous studies have reported statistically significant correlations between 2D:4D and risk taking, altruism, positive reciprocity, negative reciprocity and trust. Many "researcher degrees of freedom" and small sample sizes are important limitations of previous studies. We present results from a pre-registered large sample study testing if 2D:4D is associated with economic preferences. Data were collected in a representative sample of adults in the German Socioeconomic Panel-Innovation Sample (SOEP-IS), in a sample of about 3,450 respondents (about 5 times larger than the previously largest study in this field). We find no statistically significant association between 2D:4D and economic preferences in the largest study to this date on the topic.
Subjects: 
Economic behavior
prenatal hormones
testosterone
digit ratio
JEL: 
D03
D87
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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