Are lefties [southpaws] more creative (generally speaking)? Are they smarter (in general of course)?

Answer 1

Well, no, it's not possible to say 'every left-hander is creative' or 'every left-hander is dyslexic', etc. However, many creative and intelligent people were left handed (I can't be bothered to list them all, lol, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_famous_left-handed_people )

On the other hand (lol), many neurological disorders, such as autism, stuttering, and schizophrenia are associated with increased rates of left-handedness and brain asymmetries (Springer & Deutsch, 1998).


Here is an extract from my research paper I just wrote...

The definition of handedness being the preference of one hand over the other is fact a superficial one: individuals may differ not only on direction of hand preference but also the magnitude that they prefer one hand over the other (Hellige, 1993). A more precise definition may be attained by Bryden et al. (1994; p.654): “handedness… may be conceptualized as being a deviation of degree and direction from a symmetric null state”

This distinction between degree and direction led to a shift in much research from a reliance on self-reported writing hand to the use of handedness inventories as classification of handedness (Bishop, 1990). Handedness questionnaires ask for hand preference on a number of actions, such as teeth brushing and using a hammer, which are combined to attain a quantitative ‘laterality quotient’.

With this laterality quotient, it becomes evident that many people are ‘mixed-handed’: that they show a reduced degree of hand preference for activities other than writing (Gadea et al., 2003). Annett (1998) estimated that 60-70% of the population is strongly right-handed, 3-4% are strongly left-handed and 25-33% of the population are mixed-handed. As a group, self-professed left-handers are less lateralised for hand preference than are right-handers: they are more likely to be mixed-handed than right-handers (Sadler, unpublished, as cited in McManus, 2002). Findings like these have led to difficulties in the catagorisation of handedness.

Zaidel et al. (1995) proposed that degree of preference is related to the inter-hemispheric connectivity while direction reflects inter-hemispheric organisation. Indeed, weak handedness has been associated with disorders such as schizophrenia and schizotypy (Annett & Moran, 2006) and posttraumatic stress disorder (Saltzman et al., 2006), further indicating a separate etiology.


Interestingly, my research paper found no difference (in prenatal testosterone levels anyway!) between strong right-handers and strong left-handers, a view which is increasingly becoming popular.

Therefore, many 'facts' you hear about left-handers actually refer mainly to 'mixed-handers'.



And finally, please ignore anyone who pontificates that left-handers are 'in their right minds', etc. It's a very witty little quote, but simply untrue...

Studies have shown that 95% of right handed people use their 'left mind' predominantly (compared to 66% of left-handed people), leaving 5% of right-handers being in their 'right mind' and 33% of lefthanders either being in their 'right mind' (or in both minds...) Note there is no such thing as right minded and left minded, only lateral representations of certain functions such as language. Here's (another!) extract from my paper

Handedness can be defined as the preference for the use of one hand over the other: an asymmetry of motor skill and preference. The human body is satiated with asymmetries: for example, the heart is smaller than the right, the coils of the small intestine have a regular asymmetric structure, the heart is on the left side of the body (McManus, 2002). It is has been shown however, that handedness reflects cerebral asymmetry (MacNeilage, 2006). Though the two cerebral hemispheres share the processing and execution of many functions, neuropsychological studies have shown that each is specialised in certain functions: in most people, the left hemisphere controls language and praxis functions while the right hemisphere specialises in visuospatial and attentional functions (Hervé, 2006). Handedness is a behavioural manifestation of individual differences in hemispheric dominance for motor control, which may belay a relationship to other cognitive asymmetries. One prime example is language dominance: 95% of right-handers are right-hemisphere dominant for language production and comprehension while only 61% of left-handers are right-hemisphere dominant. Interestingly, a further 19% of left-handers’ language ability is served bi-hemipsherically (Grimshaw et al., 1995). A lateralised brain has certain advantages: more skills may be possessed than if each skill had to be represented bi-hemipsherically, and differinging growth rates implicate increased adaptability to disrupting developmental factors such as brain damage (Baron-Cohen et al., 2004). On the other hand, a more bilaterally organised brain (i.e. an 'ambidextrous brain') may allow for specialisation of certain skills requiring an integration of functions, which may account for anecdotal report of left-handedness being associated with creativity and for the established link between left-handedness and increased musical ability (Kopiez, 2005)

Soooo... I'm rambled on long enough, so I'll attempt to summerise my answer :-)

There is no evidence that left-handers are more creative or more intelligent than right-handers. However, as left-handers are more likely to have a different neural structure than right-handers (more likely, not 'have'), and as certain patterns of neural structure are assocated with different skills (i.e. music), one could extrapolate that left-handers are more likely to be creative or skilled in certain intellectual functions such as spatial ability than right-handers, but on the other hand are more likely to be autistic, etc. Therefore, a clear definition of 'creativity' and 'intelligence' is needed before we can answer your question... We also need a clear definition of left-handedness: is it 'right-hemipshere dominance', pure preference for the left hand, or less preference for the right hand?

I highly reccommend the books 'left hand right hand' by Chris McManus and 'the essential difference' by Simon Baron-Cohen, I think you'll find them both accessible and highly interesting!

Hope my answer helped somewhat!

Answer 2

If the right side of the brain, controls the left side of the body. Then only left handed people are in there right minds.

Answer 3

Its all about which brain hemisphere is more dominant. Not all right handed people are left brained, not all left handed people are right brained. You can likely find a quiz or test to find out which you fall into.

Answer 4

we lefties are all in our right minds, need i say more, and those who aren't left handed, wish they were, thank you.