A STUDY ON ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DIGIT RATIO AND GENDER SOCIALISATION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS
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Date
2019
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MPUT, UDAIPUR
Abstract
The present research was conducted to study the association of digit ratio with gender
socialisation. The sample of the study comprised of 18-25 year old college students
selected from 10 colleges in Udaipur city, Rajasthan. For reliability analysis of the
scale 200 students and for digit ratio and gender socialisation 300 students were
selected. Research Tool comprised of the background and personal information
proforma and the Gender Socialisation Scale, which was developed and standardised
on the lines of Likert summated rating scale and tested for reliability and validity. The
scale had a reliability of 0.853 and the content validity of the scale was 4.6 while the
criterion related validity of the scale was 0.924. The standardised mean score on the
‘Gender-Socialisation’ scale was 134.040±32.423 for a total of 40 statements. Data
was collected through interview on gender socialisation and digital photographs of
both the hands. Digit ratio was calculated through software for 2D:3D, 2D:4D,
2D:5D, 3D:4D, 3D:5D, 4D:5D both for right-hand as well as left hand. The data
collected was analysed through frequency and percentage, mean, standard deviation,
t-test, effect size, chi-square, correlation, percentile and standard error.
The major findings of the study revealed that mean age of the sample was
19.90±1.780. Majority (85.33%) of the respondents were right-handed and among
left-handed majority were males (71.16%). The mean digit ratio of the sample was
0.955±0.032 (males: 0.928±0.036 and females: 0.982±0.047) with a minimum of
0.863 and a maximum of 1.056. The difference in digit ratios between males and
females was statistically significant (p<0.01) with males having considerably lower
ratios than females (d=-1.290). The difference was also extremely statistically
significant (p<0.01) for both the right-hand (d=-1.937) as well as for the left-hand
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(d=-1.348). Right-hand and left-hand digit ratios (2D:4D) had a moderate (d=0.571)
and significant (p<0.001) difference and the difference was larger for females
(d=0.968) than males (d=0.399).
The mean ratio of right-handed respondents was 0.961±0.041 and for left-handed
respondents it was 0.923±0.045. The difference among the mean values was large
(d=0.883) and statistically significant (p<0.01). The difference was also significant
(p<0.01) for right-hand 2D:4D and left-hand 2D:4D between right-handed and lefthanded
respondents. Both males and females had higher ratios among right-handed
but the difference was higher for females (d=0.551) than males (d=0.457) although it
was significant for males (p=0.026) and not for females (p=0.068).
The mean values of digit ratios for 2D:3D, 2D:5D, 3D:4D, 3D:5D and 4D:5D were
0.900±0.024, 1.203±0.053, 1.079±0.023, 1.380±0.056 and 1.227±0.044 respectively.
The ratios of the fingers of the hands follow the order of: 3D:5D> 4D:5D> 2D:5D>
3D:4D> 2D:4D> 2D:3D. Also, sexual dimorphism was significant (p<0.001) for
2D:5D, 3D:5D and 4D:5D digit ratio and not significant for 2D:3D and 3D:4D. The
right-left differences were found significant for all ratios with highest difference
between 3D:5D ratio (d=0.625) and the lowest difference between 3D:4D ratio
(d=0.182).
Regarding “Gender Socialisation” maximum respondents (63%) had an egalitarian
attitude and the mean score was 152.10±15.12. The difference between males and
females was significant (p<0.01*) and very large (d=-0.703). The association
between digit ratio (2D:4D) and the gender socialisation scores was highly significant
(p<0.01). Most of the respondents with egalitarian attitude had feminine digit ratio
(38.67%). A positive strong (r>0.5) and significant (p<0.01) relationship was found
between gender socialisation scores and the digit ratios (2D:4D). The relationship was
stronger for males (r=0.672) as compared to females(r=0.574). The higher the score
on gender socialisation scale i.e. more egalitarian the attitude was linked with higher
digit ratios i.e. more feminine ratios.
Description
A Study on Association between Digit Ratio and Gender Socialisation in College Students
Keywords
Citation
Khurana T. And Singh S.