Exposure to too little testosterone in the womb makes women bad at parking cars and poor map readers, according to a study conducted at the University of Giessen in Germany.
The study, published in the journal Intelligence, appears to confirm well-established male prejudices in finding that a lack of testosterone has a negative effect on spatial skills.
The research looked at the spatial and numerical skills of 40 student volunteers and also at the length of the students’ fourth and index fingers.
In women, the two fingers tend to be roughly equal in length, when measured from the crease nearest the palm to the fingertip. In men, the fourth — or ring finger — is usually noticeably longer than the index finger.
Volunteers had to tell which of five drawings could not be rotated so it looked like the other four. And they also had to think in three dimensions by mentally ”unfolding” a complex shape.
Men did better at the tests than did women, although women with longer index fingers did better than women with the more normal pattern. These women also scored better in the numerical tests.
The researchers, led by Petra Kempel, characterised the results as ”remarkable”. – Sapa-DPA