Angels Den Blog

Could your digits hold the key to your educational, social and financial success?

It may seem a little strange, but a subject of much debate over the last few years is the correlation between the relative lengths of your fingers and a propensity towards certain characteristics or skills. The latest study carried out by some clever chaps at Cambridge University found that if your ring finger (that’s your fourth finger, counting your thumb as number 1) was longer than your index finger (that’s your second finger), you’d be more likely to be a high achiever in a City job. Well, good timing chaps. In the current market I think it’d take a little more than an elongated digit for anyone in the banking sector to achieve any form of financial success!

Even though I too fall into the statistical band of this study, I have to say that the claim that finger length alone could predetermine your financial success seems a little far-fetched. However, the results of the study were quite impressive. The researchers took 44 City traders and monitored their financial successes and failures over a 20-month period. By the end of the study those with longer ring fingers than index fingers had made 11 times more money than the others. That’s a serious difference.

As I mentioned, this is not the first time that relative finger lengths have been cited as the predictor for success. Back in 2006 a study was carried out by scientists at Kings College London on several hundred female twins and concluded that those with a ring finger longer than their index finger were more likely to be stronger at sports, especially in areas like running, tennis and football. Bucking the trend with a bit of a mixed bag of results, a study of 75 seven-year-olds in 2007 suggested that children with longer ring to index finger ratios were likely to do less well than their classmates in literacy tests, but better in maths tests. Also, a Canadian study in 2005 revealed that of the 300 participants those with longer ring to index finger ratios were more likely to be physically aggressive.

The belief is that relative finger lengths have to do with the amount of testosterone that a baby is exposed to in the womb. So in future years, could we see finger length ratios being part of an interview process for certain jobs? Will genetic engineering ensure that all babies are born with longer ring fingers? Or is it just a load of old cobblers made up by bored scientists with way too much grant money to spend before their next review?

At Angels Den our Angel investors don’t put much stock in psychological or physical testing to decide who they are going to invest in. When an entrepreneur presents their business or business concept to them it is the quality of the idea, the clarity of the proposal and the valuation of the business that will determine whether or not they will contribute to the financial success of the venture through an injection of capital. If you have a business in need of additional funding or a business idea or invention that you wish the world to hear about then visit our website at www.angelsden.co.uk to see how we can put you in contact with the Angel investors who can make it happen.

Source:
Finger length ‘key to aggression’
Fingers ‘a clue to exam success’
Finger size link to earning power”

Image ©jamesk03