Prenatal Testosterone Exposure (2D:4D) and Economic Preferences

Short Description: Second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) of human hands, a putative marker of prenatal testosterone exposure, has been argued to be one potential explanation for heterogeneity in economic preferences. In a pre-registered study based on a much larger sample than in previous studies, we test if 2D:4D is associated with economic preferences (risk taking, altruism, negative reciprocity, positive reciprocity and trust).

Methodological Details: Hand measurements were done with digital calipers. For economic preferences elicitation, a part of the global preferences module of Falk et al. (2018) was used. These eight items are experimentally validated.

Risk:

“How do you rate yourself personally? In general, are you someone who is ready to take risks or do you try to avoid risks?”

Altruism:

  1. “Imagine the following situation: Today you unexpectedly received 1,000 Euro. How much of this amount would you donate to a good cause?” [0,1000]

  2. “How willing are you to give to good causes without expecting anything in return?” (scale from 0-10)

Positive Reciprocity: “When someone does me a favor I am willing to return it.” (scale from 0-10)

Negative Reciprocity:

  1. “If I am treated very unjustly, I will take revenge at the first occasion, even if there is a cost to do so.” (scale from 0-10)

  2. “How willing are you to punish someone who treats you unfairly, even if there may be costs for you?” (scale from 0-10)

  3. “How willing are you to punish someone who treats others unfairly, even if there may be costs for you?” (scale from 0-10)

Interpersonal Trust: “People are basically honest.” (scale from 0-10)

Available Papers

  • Neyse, Levent, Magnus Johannesson, and Anna Dreber. 2020. 2D:4D Does Not Predict Economic Preferences : Evidence from a Large, Representative Sample. SOEPpapers 1086 . Berlin: DIW Berlin;

  • Fossen, Frank M., Levent Neyse, Magnus Johannesson, and Anna Dreber. 2020. 2D:4D and Self-Employment Using SOEP Data: A Replication Study. SOEPpapers 1085 . Berlin: DIW Berlin

Contact

Syear

Respondents

Dataset

Variables

Availability

Field

Method

Replication

Levent Neyse (DIW Berlin)

2018

~4000

inno

iflerg_lia, iflerg_li, ifl08a, ifl02a1, ifl06, iflerg_re, ifl_r2d4d, ifl05a, ifl06a, ifl02a2, ifl07a, ifl02a5, ifl08, ifl02a4, im_ifl, ifl_mean2d4d, ifl04, ifl_direction_asymm, ifl10, ifl02a3, iflerg_rea, ifl_l2d4d, ifl07, ifl_compos_asymm, ifl05, ifl03, ifl01

04/2021

Economics, Psychology, Biology

Survey items & somatic measurement