The left-handed brand has come a long way in the last few decades. The majority of people no longer assume that southpaws are tools of Satan, alight with hellfire. Today's lefties are surrounded by a far more benevolent glow. We associate left-handedness with intelligence, out-of-the-box thinking, and artistic talent. But are these flattering generalizations backed up by science? Does being left-handed really make you more creative?
The answer to that is a definitive … maybe.
Scientists have been chipping away at the peculiarities of left-handedness, which occurs in about 10 percent of the population, for a long time. They've looked into the purported links between left-handedness and things like mental illness, faulty immune systems, and criminal behavior. They've studied whether lefties are better at problem-solving, and if they're more likely to die young. From all these studies on left-handedness, we can conclude one thing, and one thing alone: science is complicated.
A handful of studies have found a link between left-handedness and creativity, conferred, some think, by the fact that left-handed folks constantly have to adjust to a right-handed world. Other studies found no link at all.
Some researchers conclude that lefties are no smarter than righties, while others say that left-handedness comes with a clear intellectual advantage. Is there really a left-handed personality? Are lefties more prone to schizophrenia and learning disabilities? That depends on who you ask.
But “Are lefties different?” might not even be the right question. Over the last few years, a number of studies have concluded that it's not which hand is dominant that matters—it's the degree of dominance. According to researchers, very few people are truly entirely left- or right-handed; it's more of a spectrum. We use our left hands for some things and our right hands for other tasks.
These experiments have found that people toward the middle of the spectrum are more flexible thinkers. They seem to be more empathetic and better able to view things from other people's perspectives. When considering the risks and benefits of any given decision, inconsistent-handed people (as researchers call them) are more likely to focus on the risks, whereas people at the outer edges of the handedness spectrum pay more attention to potential benefits. They may even sleep differently. It seems we've been aiming our stereotypes a little too far to the left.
But who knows? This is ever-changing, constantly evolving science. If you're a lefty who enjoys feeling superior, we're not going to tell you to tone it down. For all we know, you could be right.
