14 DAY TRIAL // A new scientific study shows that the handedness of a patient is crucial in understanding at least a part of his or her behavior. Apparently, all left-handed people share in common traits such as anxiety, depression and fear of making important decisions, unlike right-handers. The researchers behind this survey say that the difference in the way people act occurs because different brain hemispheres are stimulated for the use of each hand.
The paths that the brain uses for the control of the dominant hand are located in the opposite hemisphere – meaning that right-handed patients will have a more active left hemisphere, whereas left-handed ones will use their right one more. Psychologists say that the right side of the brain is responsible for the control of negative emotions, so it stands to reason that, if it's more active than the left side, it also generates more such emotions.
These beliefs were confirmed by the new study, conducted by a team of scientists at the University of Abertay Dundee, in the UK, led by behavioral psychologist Lynn Wright. They tested on 46 left-handed participants, both men and women, as well as on 66 right-handed individuals. All participants were given questionnaires, meant to measure their levels of security, alertness, impulsiveness and restraint as well.
The results showed that left-handed people are generally more reticent than right-handers. This was also the case for women, regardless of their dominant hand, who answered positively to statements such as "Criticism or scolding hurts me quite a bit" and "I worry about making mistakes."
The team says that the fact that some people use their right side of the brain more, rather than the left side, is not an indicator of their personality in any way. It merely offers insight into how emotions are processed by those people. In fact, it's the way we process information and emotions that differentiates us from each other. Otherwise, all participants to an event, for example, will have the same opinion about it, and the same applies to every event involving many people.