Researchers have discovered that a quick study of the hands — more specifically, the lengths of the index and ring fingers — can tell a lot about a person’s personality and risk of disease. Of course, your digits¹ don’t actually control these issues; it’s closer to the other way around.

研究者发现，通过观察手部，更确切地说来是观察食指和无名指的长度，可以快速知晓一个人的性格特征和患病风险。当然，你的手指并非控制因素，相反它只是反映了你的这些状况。

In boys, “during fetal development there’s a surge in testosterone in the middle of the second trimester” that seems to influence future health and behavior, says Pete Hurd, a neuroscientist at the University of Alberta. One easy-to-spot result of this flood of testosterone: a ring finger that’s significantly longer than the index finger.

加拿大亚伯达大学神经系统科学家皮特·赫德称，男孩“在胎儿形成4-6个月期间，睾丸素水平会有一次大幅提升”，这会对以后的健康和行为产生影响。睾丸素水平较高的一个明显标志就是无名指比食指长很多。

Scientists are not at the point where they can factor in finger length to arrive at a diagnosis³, but they’ve gathered evidence that shows how this prenatal hormone⁴ imbalance can affect a person for life, from increasing or decreasing your risk of certain diseases, to predicting how easily you get lost or lose your temper.

科学家现在还不能将手指长度作为一个诊断因素，但他们已收集了一些证据来表明这种胎儿期的荷尔蒙失衡是如何对人的一生产生影响的，影响包括增加或降低患某种疾病的风险，或是脾气的好坏。

Researchers continue to study what sparks these hormonal⁵ changes and have begun looking at environmental chemical exposure, stress levels and diet during pregnancy⁶.

研究者继续研究何种因素导致了这种荷尔蒙水平的改变，并已开始具体研究孕妇在环境中接触到的化学成分、压力水平和饮食状况等因素。

How Do You Measure Up?

如何测量？

Measure your index and ring fingers, base to tip. (Most of the studies used the right hand.) Divide the length of your index finger by the length of your ring finger to determine the digit² ratio, or finger quotient (Fq). A longer ring finger results in an Fq of less than 1 and a more “masculine” hand shape.

量一下自己食指和无名指从头至尾的长度。（大多数研究使用的是右手）用食指的长度除以无名指的长度，得到一个比率，称为手指系数（Fq）。如果无名指长，那么Fq小于1，且手型更为男性化。

Fq < 1：

Increased verbal aggression⁷

言语攻击性更强

The shorter your index finger, the sharper your tongue: In both men and women, a lower Fq can predict more verbal sparring.

食指越短，说话越不客气。Fq值低表明更强的言语攻击性，男女都是如此。

Improved athletic⁸ ability

运动能力更好

A greater surge of prenatal testosterone can be an indicator⁹ of high levels of achievement in sports, as well as a mental toughness in athletics¹⁰. In one study, college varsity athletes (male and female) were found to have shorter index fingers than other students.

胎儿睾丸素水平大幅提高可预示较好的运动能力以及在竞技中的较强意志力。一项研究发现，大学运动代表队运动员（男女都有）的食指要比其他学生短。

Improved sense of direction

方向感更强

In women, a more masculine digit ratio tends to predict a better sense of direction, backing up past research that found men tend to have better spatial¹¹ cognition than women.

对女性来说，手指系数越接近男性，方向感越好。以往有研究表明男性的空间认知力优于女性。

More risk taking

更具冒险精神

One example: The most successful financial traders tend to have the longest fourth fingers. These behavior patterns seem to apply only to men.

举个例子，最成功的金融交易师无名指最长。这些行为模式似乎只针对男性。

Fq > 1：

Healthier knees

膝盖更健康

An index finger that’s shorter than the ring finger can be a sign of knee osteoarthritis risk, particularly in women, compared with people whose fingers are equal lengths, or who have a longer index finger.

相比于食指和无名指一样长，或是食指较长的人，食指比无名指短的人患膝盖关节炎的风险更大，特别是女性。

Increased risk of oral cancer

口腔癌患病几率更大

A high digit ratio — those with very little difference between the index and ring finger, or with a longer index finger — was found among men with oral cancer, compared with men with pre-cancerous oral lesions or no lesions, according to one all-male study.

根据一项针对男性的调查，与口腔癌病变前或无病变的人相比，患口腔癌的男性Fq值较高，即食指和无名指长度差不多或食指较长。

Lower prostate cancer risk

前列腺癌患病风险更低

Men with long index fingers and shorter ring fingers have a 33 percent reduced risk of prostate cancer. If they’re younger than 60, the risk is even less — 87 percent.

食指比无名指长的男性患前列腺癌的几率要低33%。如未到60岁，患病几率更要低87%。