Hands can reveal a lot about a person’s character, but now researchers at the University of California-Berkley are suggesting the lengths of a female individual’s fingers might give insight into her sexual orientation.

The Berkley study, conducted earlier this year, claims whether a woman’s ring finger or index finger is longer can be a test of whether she is straight or a lesbian.

Sarah Schweitzer, former president of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally Alliance, said she did not believe the study’s claims because according to her own finger lengths, she should be straight.

Schweitzer also said she discussed the study with some straight relatives from California, and she found they should be gay.

“Saying the size of the index finger can determine sexuality in the grand scheme of things is silly,” she said.

The study, performed by Berkeley psychology professor Marc Breedlove and undergraduates Terrance Williams and Michelle Pepitone, shows the hands of lesbian women mirror those of men.

For most women, the index finger is usually the same length as the ring finger. However, for men and lesbians the index finger is slightly shorter, the study concluded.

The study found no difference between the hands of gay and straight men, which Schweitzer said could mix up the whole theory.

“If it’s going to be a universal thing, then it needs to be universal,” she said.

The researchers found the differences in finger lengths are evident in young children, even those not yet born.

“Our results suggest that events before birth (or even before conception in the case of older brothers) influence human sexual orientation,” the study states.

The size of one’s finger is probably not determined by having more testosterone than estrogen, Schweitzer said.

She also said the study should be viewed as more of a conversational topic than a study of any scientific worth.

“It’s just going to be something for people to talk about at work for the next six months,” she said.

The Berkley researchers collected the data for the study by setting up booths at gay-pride events, where they paid participants to fill out questionnaires and to photocopy their hands.

Bob Stephenson, professor of statistics, said in an observational study such as this, any correlation found does not necessarily prove anything. He said because the sample is limited to those people who attend those types of events, the study has little validity.

“They are observing individuals, and so there may be other variables that they are not accounting for that could explain some of these differences,” Stephenson said.

A more appropriate way to study the relationship between finger lengths and sexual orientation would be to have a cross-section of individuals who are truly representative of the population as a whole, Stephenson said.