This article made me want to puke. Ohio State University should
reprimand interdisciplinary "scientist" Zeynep Benderlioglu and the
website sciencenetlinks criticized for mentioning it. According to Bob
Hirshon of AAAS, the Science Society, "The study doesn't suggest that
asymmetry causes aggression, and can't prove that maternal risk factors
are to blame. But it's one more clue that these seemingly unrelated
traits may indeed share a common cause."
According to the study, "The underlying assumption of the study is that
smoking and alcohol during pregnancy cause both aggression and
asymmetry. This makes sense, because the pregnancy risk factors come
first. But it's still possible that some other, unknown factor
contributes to all three of these trends." 

The researchers put college students through frustrating and belligerent
phone calls. And they found that people with less symmetrical body
features–for example, one arm, eye, or ear that's bigger than the
other–tended to react more aggressively than their more symmetrical
counterparts. ROFLMAO! Did the researchers get permission of the
students to make frustrating and belligerant calls to them? Obviously
not and was not required. How many students did they call? That
information wasn't provided. I would think a student with one eyeball
bigger than the other or or ear bigger than the other or one arm bigger
than the other, etc. would be rather rare, even at Ohio State University
with thousands of students. Come to think of it I've never come across a
person with one eyeball bigger than the other or one ear bigger than the
other although I'm sure they exist. So out of this sample whose number
of students is unknown Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads acted more aggressively
to frustrating and belligerant phone calls. In fact, the study doesn't
specifically mention the asymmetries these allegedly more aggressive
students had. 

Not only was the sample size not provided by Zeynep Benderlioglu which
casts her study as worthless and the reactions of "symmetrical" students
to the frustrating and belligerant phonecalls analyzed in terms of
levels of aggression, she does not mention all the possible causes of
"asymmetry". Her bias is, "The underlying assumption of the study is
that smoking and alcohol during pregnancy cause both aggression and
asymmetry. This makes sense, because the pregnancy risk factors come
first. But it's still possible that some other, unknown factor
contributes to all three of these trends." Indeed. Did Zeynep
Benderlioglu question these "asymmetrical" students to attempt to find
out if their mothers drank alcohol or smoked during their pregnancies.
No evidence is provided she did? She states, "But it's still possible
that some other unknown factor contributes to all three of these
trends." But we're not sure in all these asymmetrical cases that
tobacco, alcohol and aggression are related to their asymmetry. Indeed,
having one eyeball bigger than another, one ear bigger than another or
one limb bigger than another, etc. would suggest some form of
retardation, multiple birthing, etc. And yet these asymmetrical students
are students at Ohio State University.

If I received a frustrating phone call I might be aggressive too. That's
another thiing. No information was given about the specific nature of
the frustrating or belligerant phone calls. If somebody is being rude to
me I might be aggressive and hang up on them. Another thing to consider
is if a person had one eyeball bigger than another or one ear bigger
than another and received what they thought as a  frustrating or
belligerant phonecall they might think they were being targeted because
of their physical anomaly and that might make them more aggressive.

The final obscenity to this article is a list of links on the bottom
which includes, " Beauty, by Australia Broacasting Company's Dr. Karl,
and Looking Good, an article in the undergraduate-written Journal of
Young Investigators, delve into the relationship between body symmetry
and attractiveness and Symmeter is a web-based system that provides a
simple way to measure the symmetry of any person, place, or thing that
can be rendered through a digital image."

These sites extol the beauty of symmetry and its academic, professional
and mating advantages and how those who are unsymmetrical are basically
failures in comparison. Is it true? I don't know. I've gone to college
and been out on the streets and seen plenty of ugly fat symmetrical
people who are academic and professional successes and who have mates.
Like I said I've never seen a person with one eyeball bigger than
another or one ear or arm bigger than another. Do they exist? Sure they
do. But I think there such a tiny minority and to compare them with the
vast majority of symmetrical people in terms of being a success or
failure or being more aggressive is absurd. Clearly, the vast majority
of symmetrical people exhibit for more aggressiveness and both successes
and failures by mere virtue of their tremendously greater numbers.

Clearly, scientist Zeynep Benderlioglu has some kind of ideal standard
dichotimizing people based on their symmetry or lack of it and has used
her "research" as a basis for discrimination against "unsymmetrical
people". 
The article asks, "What are the dangers in publishing a study like this?
How might it be misinterpreted? Do its potential benefits outweigh its
drawbacks?" The dangers in publishing a study like this (at least what I
read from this article) is that it leaves out critical information to
make its case that asymmetry is related to maternal factors of nicotine,
alcohol, aggression and possibly a fourth factor tieing this together.
It doesn't provide the size of the sample of students broken down into
both symmetrical and asymmetrical. It doesn't provide the specific
nature of the frustrating and belligerant phonecalls. It doesn't provide
any verifiable scale in terms of levels of aggressiveness. It doesn't
provide information if researchers questioned students about the
possible causes of their asymmetry. What other dangers are there?
Because if provides none of the aforementioned information it appears
the only purpose of the study was to discriminate against people who are
asymmetrical. This is buttressed by including links on the
sciencenetlinks website extolling the beauty of symmetry in people and
how those who arre unsymmetrical are in comparison life failures. And
finally a website to measure your own symmetry and presumably self worth
as a human being. 

How might the study be misinterpreted? With such lack of basic
information the study yields no scientific interpretation. It can't be
misinterpreted. The only conclusion is the study was biased and intended
to discriminate against asymmetrical people. Does its potential benefits
outweigh its drawbacks? I don't see any potential benefits. I only see
drawbacks.

I'm more than receptive to being provided more information by scientist
Zeynep Benderlioglu and officials at Ohio State University regarding the
study.

Michael Ragland   



http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/sci_update.cfm?DocID=233


Introduction

Much of the work of scientists is making connections in unexpected
places. For example, a recent study has found a link between aggression
and body symmetry that may go back to the womb. 

Asymmetry & Aggression
Transcript

A strange connection between body and behavior. I'm Bob Hirshon and this
is Science Update. 

Scientists at Ohio State University recently published an unusual study.
The researchers put college students through frustrating and belligerent
phone calls. And they found that people with less symmetrical body
features–for example, one arm, eye, or ear that's bigger than the
other–tended to react more aggressively than their more symmetrical
counterparts. 

The study was led by interdisciplinary scientist Zeynep Benderlioglu.
She says previous research has linked both asymmetry and aggression to
risk factors in a mother's pregnancy. 

Benderlioglu: 
For example, pregnant mothers who consume alcohol or tobacco, had more
asymmetrical offspring compared to normal populations, who did not
consume alcohol or tobacco during pregnancy. And mostly smoking and also
alcohol use result in conduct disorders and aggression. 

Building on that, her study is the first to experimentally link
asymmetry and aggression to each other. xThe study doesn't suggest that
asymmetry causes aggression, and can't prove that maternal risk factors
are to blame. But it's one more clue that these seemingly unrelated
traits may indeed share a common cause. I'm Bob Hirshon for AAAS, the
Science Society. 

Making Sense of the Research

This study nicely illustrates the difference between correlation and
causation. Causation is a direct relationship between two things, where
A causes B. For example, we know that smoking causes cancer, because of
all the research that's gone into studying the way it happens. Causal
relationships are usually (but not always) one-way: smoking causes
cancer, but cancer does not cause smoking. 

A correlation is simply a measurable and predictable relationship
between two different things. For example, people who buy ashtrays
probably have higher rates of lung cancer than people who don't. But
that doesn't mean that buying ashtrays causes cancer, or the other way
around. It simply means that if you know somebody buys ashtrays, you can
predict that they will be more likely to get cancer than someone who
doesn't. The reason, of course, is that smoking causes both cancer and
ashtray-shopping. 

So when two things are correlated, they may or may not also have a
causal relationship. Correlations are a lot easier to prove, because all
you have to do is measure the two things and study their relationship.
They can provide clues that two seemingly separate phenomena may be
connected, and point the way toward further study. 

In this study, the researchers already assume that body asymmetry and
aggression do not have a causal relationship. In other words, having
asymmetric features doesn't make you short-tempered, and getting angry
doesn't make your face asymmetrical. But previous studies had correlated
a separate factor–stress from alcohol or tobacco during a mother's
pregnancy–with both asymmetry and aggression. 

Here, the researchers strengthen that relationship by connecting
aggression to asymmetry. The underlying assumption of the study is that
smoking and alcohol during pregnancy cause both aggression and
asymmetry. This makes sense, because the pregnancy risk factors come
first. But it's still possible that some other, unknown factor
contributes to all three of these trends. 

Now try and answer these questions:
What is the difference between correlation and causation? 

What exactly is measured in this study? 
Correlation and causation are often confused in everyday life, in areas
from science to politics to basic human interactions. Can you give an
example? 

This study does not suggest that having asymmetrical features causes
aggression. Would it be possible to test that idea directly? How? 

What are the dangers in publishing a study like this? How might it be
misinterpreted? Do its potential benefits outweigh its drawbacks? 

Why?

Going Further

Correlation or Causation? is a big list of scientific studies that would
serve as excellent topics for further discussion. 
Beauty, by Australia Broacasting Company's 

Dr. Karl, and Looking Good, an article in the undergraduate-written
Journal of Young Investigators, delve into the relationship between body
symmetry and attractiveness. 

Symmeter is a web-based system that provides a simple way to measure the
symmetry of any person, place, or thing that can be rendered through a
digital image. 
  
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