Left-handers are more competitive | PerthNow
Left-handed people may have a natural advantage over their opponents.
Scientists say lefties are more competitive than right-handers and have a strong drive to beat others, what experts call “hypercompetitive orientation.”
This trait may help explain why left-handedness has survived through evolution despite occurring in only 10 percent of the population.
Researchers analyzed data from 533 volunteers, including 483 strong right-handers and 50 strong left-handed participants, and compared their attitudes toward competition using surveys.
The results showed a clear difference.
Right-handers were more likely to avoid competitive situations, while left-handers consistently scored higher on competitiveness.
“Taken together, this study provides an important piece of the puzzle for understanding the evolution of left-handedness. Left-handers are indeed more competitive than right-handers,” said Sebastian Ocklenburg from the Department of Psychology at the MSH Faculty of Medicine in Hamburg.
The findings may help explain why many famous high achievers, including Sir Paul McCartney, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, are left-handed.
In a blog post on Psychology Today, Ocklenburg suggested that right-handed people may actually have advantages in collaborative learning situations.
He said: “Right-handed students may be able to grasp a new task more easily, as most teachers are likely to be right-handed.”
However, when it comes to competition, things are reversed.
He explained: “Left-handers are thought to have an advantage in competitive situations such as fighting because they are much rarer than right-handers. [This makes] their attacks in a combat situation are more surprising.”
Previous research has found that left-handers perform particularly well in sports such as fencing and badminton.
The latest study, conducted by researchers at the University of Chieti-Pescara in Italy and published in Scientific Reports, suggests that left-handers’ minority status may even increase their competitive drive.
The authors wrote: “A minority of the human population consists of left-handers, and one possible advantage of belonging to this minority is a higher ‘surprise’ effect in fighting and sports.”
They added that belonging to a minority group can also increase frustration levels, which can push left-handers into even tougher competition.
