Abstract

This experiment was conducted on how biological factors can relate to elements such as gender

identity and sexual orientation. The question being examined was whether or not there is a

correlation between finger length and sexual orientation, and the hypothesis was that biological

females whose ring fingers are longer than their index fingers are more likely to be homosexual

or in some way part of the LGBT society, while biological males are more likely to be LGBT if

their ring fingers are shorter than their index fingers. In order to resolve this, an anonymous

survey was sent out to grades 7-12 of The Galloway School in Atlanta, Georgia. It requested that

participants enter their sexual orientation, sex, and gender identity along with the lengths (in

centimeters) of their second and fourth fingers. 58 usable responses were gathered, and the

lengths of the respondents’ second fingers were divided by the lengths of their fourth fingers to

gather their 2D:4D ratios. In biological males, the ratios for homosexuals and heterosexuals were

the same at 0.97. In biological females, homosexuals had an average 2D:4D ratio of 0.97 and

heterosexuals had an average 2D:4D ratio of 1.1. The sample sizes of other sexualities were not

large enough for conclusive results but the 2D:4D ratios seemed to be rather random. These

results show little to no correlation between 2D:4D ratio and sexuality in biological males, but do

indicate a slight relationship between a lower 2D:4D ratio and being homosexual in biological

females. These results are rather inconclusive given the small sample size. However, if there are

true correlations between such seemingly unrelated things as the lengths of ring and pointer

fingers and one’s sexuality, there is no saying what other possibly vital relationships may exist.