Self-Efficacy and the Digit Ratio in a Group of Sports University Students

Abstract

Self-efficacy is one’s awareness of being able to cope optimally with different situations. Perceived self-efficacy is a belief that closely involves emotional and personological functioning. In fact, when one perceives oneself as capable, the likelihood of success increases significantly. The aim of this research was to verify a possible correlation between self-efficacy and the Digit Ratio (2D:4D), referred to as prenatal androgen levels, and whether these correlate with some psychological variables, considering possible gender differences. This study involved 56 sports university students, whose 2D:4D ratio was calculated. Moreover, self-assessment questionnaires: the Self-efficacy Scale (SES), the Big Five Questionnaire-2 (BFQ-2), the Profile of Mood State (POMS), the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory Form Y (STAI-Y) and the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) were administered. The data show that the perceived levels of self-efficacy seem to be influenced by an innate predisposition linked to prenatal androgen values to which the subjects were exposed during uterine life (2D:4D). This negative correlation indicates that the higher the value of the digit ratio, the more likely it is that the level of perceived self-efficacy will be lower. Finally, the degree of perceived self-efficacy also seems to depend on the levels of subjective anxiety, understood both as a personological disposition and a contingent condition, and the latter also seems to be influenced by prenatal androgen levels, particularly in women.

Keywords

• emotion control
• personality
• state–trait anxiety
• testosterone
• gender differences