Research Debunking Left-Handed Creativity Myth

New Delhi, Jul 1 (PTI) The common belief that left-handed people possess greater creativity than right-handed individuals may not hold true, as recent research reveals. Researchers from Cornell University in the United States and The Chinese University of Hong Kong have found evidence suggesting that right-handed individuals could actually be more creative. These findings were recently published in the journal 'Psychonomic Bulletin and Review'.

Although left-handed individuals—or "lefties"—constitute approximately 10 percent of the global population, they are frequently perceived as more creative. This perception may originate from the notion that both left-handedness and creative genius are rare occurrences, leading to assumptions that the two are related. Additionally, left-handed people are observed more frequently in creative fields such as music and art. However, they also experience higher rates of mental health issues such as depression and schizophrenia, which have contributed to the linking of creative genius with mental illness.

Daniel Casasanto, the study’s senior author and an associate professor of psychology at Cornell University, pointed out that this connection, known as the 'myth of the tortured artist', may contribute to the enduring belief that left-handed individuals are more creatively gifted. However, Casasanto warns that this myth is the result of selective statistics, where only small or biased sample studies are highlighted.

Casasanto elaborated, "The emphasis on the over-representation of lefties in creative professions such as art and music is a frequent and tempting statistical error that is made by humans frequently."

The research team examined almost 1,000 scientific publications since the 1900s and analyzed 17 studies after excluding those with non-standardized data or studies that included only right-handed participants. They reported finding no substantial evidence supporting the greater creativity of left-handed or ambidextrous individuals compared to right-handed ones.

"People have generalized that the presence of left-handed artists and musicians implies lefties are more creative. However, when conducting an unbiased examination across various professions, this supposed superior creativity of left-handers vanishes," Casasanto explained.

In contrast, the research demonstrated that right-handed individuals scored higher in divergent thinking tests within laboratory settings.

Divergent thinking, associated with the brain’s right hemisphere, involves rapidly generating multiple solutions to a problem and creating connections between seemingly unrelated ideas.

Casasanto concluded, "When reviewing the literature collectively, there is simply no support for the claim of left-handed creativity superiority."