2011/02/01 by Gary Smith · 4 citations
Social Sciences · Psychology · Medicine · #Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research #League #Longevity #Psychology #Test (biology) #Demography #Gerontology #Medicine #Biology #Sociology
paper · doi:10.2466/05.pms.112.1.211-216
published in Perceptual and Motor Skills 112(1), 211-216 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2011/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abel and Kruger (2007) reported that Major League Baseball players whose names have positive initials (such as ACE or GOD) live an average of 13 years longer than do players with negative initials (such as ASS or BAD) or players with neutral initials (such as GHR or TSW). However, this conclusion is based on a very small sample, selective initials, and a flawed statistical test. There is no statistically significant relationship between initials and longevity for Major League Baseball players when a correct test is applied to independently selected initials.