Data from: Digit ratio (2D:4D) and prosocial behavior in economic games: no direct correlation with generosity, bargaining, or trust-related behaviors

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.

产前性激素暴露可对大脑产生组织塑造效应，此类效应会在个体成年后体现为可被观测的行为相关性。有理由推测，对于人类进化繁衍至关重要的社会行为，可能与产前性激素暴露这类生物学因素存在关联。然而，现有研究尚未就以第二到第四指长比（second-to-fourth digit ratio, 2D:4D）作为替代指标的产前睾酮与雌激素暴露，是否以及如何预测非自私行为达成一致结论。本研究借助带有真实货币奖励的经济学实验探究该问题，并在规模相对较大的高加索裔参与者样本（n=560）中分析了社会行为的五个不同维度。无论男性还是女性，研究结果均显示，左右手的2D:4D与慷慨行为、议价行为或信任相关行为之间不存在显著稳健的关联。此外，未观测到不同性别间的行为差异。综上，本研究认为2D:4D与上述社会行为之间不存在直接相关性。