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“Traders are succeeding not so much because they are rational, but because they have certain biological traits, including confidence, an appetite for risk, search persistence, and speed of reactions,” all of which are derived from prenatal exposure to testosterone.”
-John Coates, University of Cambridge neuroscientist and former trader
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Here’s a fascinating study to get your weekend off in the right direction
“Coates examined the digit ratio of 44 male “high frequency” traders in London who buy and sell securities, sometimes in amounts greater than $1 billion, but hold their positions for minutes, sometimes only seconds. He found that traders with a longer ring finger than index finger made more money.
“We were on the trading floor taking samples for another experiment, and I read an article about digit ratio and sports,” says Coates. “I didn’t put too much stock in the measure, but we thought, ‘Why not look at fingers?’ We were shocked by the results.”
Exposure to high levels of testosterone before birth appears to make men more sensitive to the hormone as adults. In addition to playing a role in sexual functioning, testosterone has been associated with aggressive behavior and enhanced risk taking, and has been shown to predict performance in certain competitive sports.
Coates’ findings are consistent with a Harvard study of testosterone and financial risk taking that appeared in the November 2008 issue of Evolution and Human Behavior. Using an investment game, the Harvard researchers found that higher testosterone levels correlate with financial risk-taking behavior.
“Research on digit ratios in relation to a number of behavioral and psychological traits has exploded in the past 10 years, but many of the findings have not been as convincing [as Coates’],” Coren Apicella, lead author of the Harvard study, said in an e-mail. “Further study of biological markers and their relation to economic attributes will ultimately lead to a more comprehensive understanding of economic science.”
Fascinating stuff.
And all this time you thought it was hard work and free will . . .
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Source:
Stock Market Success May Stem from Prenatal Hormone Levels
Scott P. Edwards
The Dana Foundation Brainwork, March 19, 2009
http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=19832
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