I promised results on my poll, but I'm unsure what to say about it. I've been surfing the web, looking for relevant factoids. Apologies in advance for the lack of interesting things to say.
Left handedness occurs in roughly 5% to 15% of humans. Let's call it 10% for convenience. This poll, which I hope was heavily TG-skewed, has lefties at 31%, with another 7% claiming no dominant hand. That's almost 40% that are not right-hand dominant.
This result is corroborated in several studies. Blanchard and Zucker have looked at handedness in relation to homosexuality, and in boys with Gender Identity Disorder. The latter looked at 205 boys with GID and 205 without. They found that boys with GID were 20% lefty, boys without GID, 8% lefty.
Left-handedness is determined in the womb. The theory is that lefthanders are exposed to higher amounts of testosterone. This doesn't seem to gibe with the theory that GID is a result of inadequate masculinization of the brain (MtFs, of course).
I find this all very confusing, and my scattershot writing is likely inducing the same feeling in you, dear reader. I found in my web search that lefties do more poorly at linear analysis than righties. This blog entry is anecdotal evidence of that. We're better at looking at the big picture and seeing patterns and anomalies. We're also better at following multiple threads simultaneously, while righties tend to do things one at a time.
Anyone who wants to pipe in with observations is welcome. I know there is analysis to be done here, but it is lost on me. Now, wake up and go read something interesting.
Musings: It's All About Community
5 hours ago
Does anyone know what causes GID in the womb? I ask as I really don't seem to fit into groups well when I look at hormonal impact on my body.
ReplyDeleteI am very slightly built for a man, my hands and feet fall firmly within female ranges, mens shoes and gloves are simply too big for me.
But... my index finger is quite short in relation to my ring finger (which I have read is caused by testoterone whilst in the womb, and only affects males).
But... At 33 I can still go 3 days without shaving and not have people comment - which I understand is related to lower testorone than normal...
Of course I could be talking nonsense with the above, I don't know :)
Very good that your survey reports the same as the other studies, well done :)
Stace
I checked dominant right but there is more to the story. I really wasn't sure what to check. I write with my right hand but I also do a lot with my left. I am told that I tended to go left as a child and was persuaded to go right handed. In grade school, when we would play baseball, I always batted left handed (I was awful but that is just the way I naturally picked up the bat). I threw right handed. When I hold a broom, it is the same way a leftie would hold a room. In the short period when I tried golf, I was given right handed clubs so that is the way I did it. I suppose I might have naturally gone left if I had the proper clubs. There are many other examples but since you asked for the dominant hand, I checked "right" because that is the way I write.
ReplyDeleteCalie xxx
@Stace - Absolutely the same with me but I tend to think that my situation is the 47xxy mosaic intersex condition. I still have yet to be tested but stay tuned.
ReplyDeleteCalie xxx
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNever mind, that made no sense whatsoever. :P
ReplyDeleteLOL! Deleted!
@ Calie
ReplyDeleteWhich way is right or left with a broom or a rake? Right hand on top and left on the bottom, or vice-verse? I do both. When I get tired of holding it one way I switch to the other, but for all other things, I'm predominately right handed.
As for golf, consider yourself lucky you only did it a few times! I did it once with my neurotic mother, on a par three course. Amateur that she was, she had the nerve to presume to teach me how to play! Ha! Like she was an expert! Every time I would take a swing, it was "No! You're not doing it like I told you too!" By the time we had played nine holes, I was a nervous wreck, and never wanted to see another golf club ever again!
Melissa XX
@Melissa - So THAT's why you became a girl!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad no one is walking by my office because I'm sitting here simulating holding a broom.
Left hand brooming - Right over left
Right hand brooming - Left over right
I think...
@Leslie Girl - It is such good therapy littering your blog with my nutty comments. But, then, I guess Ms Shandy does share in some of this.
ReplyDelete@Calie LOL! I pitch in where I can. It would be a shame if someone got to write a blog and all the comments ended up being relevant and concise. Where's the fun in that?!
ReplyDeleteYour findings that lefties tend to be "concept" minded certainly applies to me. I tend to look at nearly everything in the broadest of terms. For example, I boil the entire existence of man down into the word "love." I have a hard time making sense of blueprints even though I've been looking at them for over 35 years. If I have a 3d drawing to go along with them, I do a lot better. I don't get into arguments much because I can never remember the data or details I need for proving my point. At some point in the past, I gathered data and facts then formed the general concept I hold in my brain forever. In the mean time, the data and facts fade away.
ReplyDeleteI have a brother in law that can quote stats for just about every athlete that's ever lived. He can give you 10 good reason why he thinks the Jr. High School girls volleyball team in Podunk will win state this year. You never doubt his word because he's like a walking computer filled with stats. All I wanted to know was if the Cowboys would win today...lol. Yeah...he's right handed.
My wife is also left handed and she also is a concept oriented person. I think that observation you read may be valid...at least anecdotally. Is that a word...lol?