Data from: Digit ratio (2D:4D) and prosocial behavior in economic games: no direct correlation with generosity, bargaining, or trust-related behaviors
Cite this dataset
Brañas, Pablo; Espín, Antonio; Garcia, Teresa; Kovarik, Jaromir (2019). Data from: Digit ratio (2D:4D) and prosocial behavior in economic games: no direct correlation with generosity, bargaining, or trust-related behaviors [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rn288jt
Abstract
Prenatal exposure to sex hormones exerts organizational effects on the brain which have observable behavioral correlates in adult life. There are reasons to expect that social behaviors—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 analyze five different dimensions of social behavior in a comparatively large sample of Caucasian participants (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. Moreover, no differences in behavior were found according to sex. We conclude that there is no direct correlation between 2D:4D and these social behaviors.