ArticleArchives of sexual behavior2020
2D:4D Suggests a Role of Prenatal Testosterone in Gender Dysphoria.
Article in Archives of sexual behavior, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- In support of 2D:4D: More data exploring its conflicting results on handedness, sexual orientation and sex differences.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- Digit ratio (2D:4D) and transgender identity: new original data and a meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2020Pooled it
- Sexual Disgust Decreases Sociosexuality Across Genders and Sexual Orientations.Archives of sexual behavior · 2025Article
- Prenatal androgen exposure predicts sexuality disorders: insights from anthropometric measurements and questionnaires.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- Beyond the Gender Binarism: Neural Correlates of Trans Men in a Functional Connectivity-Resting-State fMRI Pilot Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Mental rotation-related neural interactions between gender and cognitive strategy.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2024Article
- Update on bioethical, medical and fertility issues in gender incongruence during transition age.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2023Review
- Adolescent Transgender Females Present Impaired Semen Quality That Is Suitable for Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Even Before Initiating Gender-Affirming Hormone Treatment.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2022Article
- An anthropometric study of sexual orientation and gender identity in Thailand.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Sex, population origin, age and average digit length as predictors of digit ratio in three large world populations.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Differences in digit ratios between gay men who prefer receptive versus insertive sex roles indicate a role for prenatal androgen.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- 2D:4D Digit Ratios in Adults with Gender Dysphoria: A Comparison to Their Unaffected Same-Sex Heterosexual Siblings, Cisgender Heterosexual Men, and Cisgender Heterosexual Women.Archives of sexual behavior · 2021Article
- No credible evidence for links between 2D:4D and COVID-19 outcomes: A probabilistic perspective on digit ratio, ACE variants, and national case fatalities.Early human development · 2021Article
- Masculinity and Lying.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Oocyte retrieval outcomes among adolescent transgender males.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Gender dysphoria (GD) reflects distress caused by incongruence between one's experienced gender identity and one's natal (assigned) gender. Previous studies suggest that high levels of prenatal testosterone (T) in natal females and low levels in natal males might contribute to GD. Here, we investigated if the 2D:4D digit ratio, a biomarker of prenatal T effects, is related to GD. We first report results from a large Iranian sample, comparing 2D:4D in 104 transwomen and 89 transmen against controls of the same natal sex. We found significantly lower (less masculine) 2D:4D in transwomen compared to control men. We then conducted random-effects meta-analyses of relevant studies including our own (k = 6, N = 925 for transwomen and k = 6, N = 757 for transmen). In line with the hypothesized prenatal T effects, transwomen showed significantly feminized 2D:4D (d ≈ 0.24). Conversely, transmen showed masculinized 2D:4D (d ≈ - 0.28); however, large unaccounted heterogeneity across studies emerged, which makes this effect less meaningful. These findings support the idea that high levels of prenatal T in natal females and low levels in natal males play a part in the etiology of GD. As we discuss, this adds to the evidence demonstrating the convergent validity of 2D:4D as a marker of prenatal T effects.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.