PERSONALITYbrown eyes are perceived as more dominant than their blue-eyed coun-
terparts. Larsson thinks the basis of the association between the iris and
personality lies with the Pax6 gene, which is linked with tissue growth
both in the iris and the brain.
When it comes to the fingers, a common test is to compare your index
fingers (second digit; 2D) and ring fingers (fourth digits; 4D). Are they
roughly the same length or is the index finger shorter? Much research
over the last couple of decades has suggested that having a shorter index
finger relative to the ring finger is a sign of having been exposed to
more testosterone in the womb. Not surprisingly, women tend to have
a higher 2D:4D ratio than men. Among both sexes, the 2D:4D ratio has
been associated with personality and behaviour. In women, for example,
a lower 2D:4D ratio is associated with more exhibitionism and in men
with lower agreeableness. Other research in this field is quite bizarre. In
a study published in 2006 by Bernhard Fink, dancing men with lower
2D:4D ratios were rated as more attractive by women than dancing men
with higher 2D:4D ratios!
Multiple
personalities
If the notion of different
personality dimensions
is now widely accepted
by psychologists, what of
the unsettling idea that
some people have multiple
personalities? There is a
psychiatric diagnosis that
describes this very situa-
tion. It used to be called
multiple personality
disorder but is known
today as dissociative iden-
tity disorder.
Among the most famous
cases is Chris Costner
Sizemore, whose alter egos
included Eve White, Eve
A publicity still for the 1957 movie The Three Faces
of Eve. Joanne Woodward won the best actress
Oscar for her performance in the title role(s).