Mixed Handedness: Bridging The Gap Between Left And Right
March 11th, 2009
Email this article to a friend
Two hands can be better than one. A well-coordinated effort of both hands makes it possible to count to 255 on your fingers (FF in hexadecimal). But mixed handedness may have consequences. Photo by Hexadecimal Time.
I always thought I was left handed. Oh sure, I do some things with my right hand, but we go by the hand you write with, right?
Actually, handedness is not a binary choice, but a continuum from purely left handed to purely right handed. Researchers say that people often aren’t aware that they’re officially mixed handed.
In a common measure of handedness called the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory, people are asked to perform 10 specific tasks. Doing even one of them with the other hand makes you mixed handed. I do 6 with my left, and 4 with my right, putting me towards the neutral end of the “mixed left hander” category.
There are different versions of this test floating around. One of them lets you specify different levels of hand preference, and gives you a numerical score from -1.0 for a pure left hander to +1.0 for a pure right hander, with 0.0 indicating that neither hand is preferred overall. I got -0.2, or just left of neutral.
I made this Handedness test into a web application, to spare people from the math. Give it a go. I’ll create a page listing the scores people report, so leave a comment with your score and I’ll link to you (links will be no-follow, the name you use can include branding words but must start with your real name, and your URL should point to actual content rather than an ad).
When I found out that using my right hand for so many tasks wasn’t typical for a left hander, I thought about what I do with each hand, to see if there was a pattern. There wasn’t a clear pattern, but I noticed some interesting combinations:
| Things I do left handed | Things I do right handed |
|---|---|
| Using a fork (without a knife), with a stabbing motion (like for sausage) | Using a fork (without a knife), with a scooping motion (like for rice) |
| Firing a pistol | Firing a rifle |
| Boxing | Kickboxing |
| Using a sword with one hand | Using a sword with two hands |
| Juggling an odd number of objects | Juggling an even number of objects |
Left handers are much more likely to be mixed handed than right handers are. For one thing, lefties are forced to adapt to a right handed world. Lefties also tend to have more symmetrical brains, resulting in natural mixed handedness. There are both pros and cons to mixed handedness, and I’ll write about this later, after I learn more about it.
It’s hard to distinguish between natural and learned mixed handedness. Why do I use scissors with my right hand? Is it because that’s my natural preference, or because my preschool teachers told me to? I don’t remember.
I also don’t remember the first time I used a mouse. Did I use my right hand because it was natural, or because it’s what everyone else was doing?
I’m also not sure how they decide what’s left and right handed for some things. I’m looking at a Washington Post article that shows two examples of left handed former presidents (it was written when mixed lefty Barack Obama was running against strong lefty John McCain). There’s a picture of George H.W. Bush gesturing with his left hand. OK, that’s a clear sign of left handedness. But then there’s a picture of Bill Clinton holding a microphone in his right hand and pointing with his left. That doesn’t exactly scream “Lefty!”
How do we know that pointing is more important than holding a microphone? If he gives a speech knowing that he’s not going to point, does he hold the microphone in his left hand? If you drive with just your left hand on the steering wheel, is that because you’re left handed, or because you’re keeping your dominant right hand free for more important things, like your Big Gulp in the cup holder? If you play golf the “right handed way,” are you really right handed, or could you just want your dominant left arm in front?
Anyway, back to this Handedness test. Go ahead and take it before reading these questions, so I don’t bias you.
- Writing and drawing are listed separately. Does anyone use different hands for them?
- When do you use a knife without a fork? What do you think they’re going for here? I thought about baking a loaf of bread and then slicing it. But might someone use the other hand in a knife fight?
- In the first version I saw, the broom task was listed as “using a broom (upper hand is dominant) or brushing one’s hair.” That seems a bit strange. Does anyone use different hands for these?
- Also, the jar task was listed as “opening a box or a jar lid.” Does anyone use different hands for these?
- It says you’re mixed handed if you do even one task with the other hand. The exception is a left hander using scissors with their right hand, because scissors are often designed for right handers. First, is that true? Do any left handers here use right handed scissors for ergonomic reasons? Second, if scissors aren’t a reliable indicator, then why are they on the test?
I’m curious to hear who uses what hand for what. Leave your score below if you want to, and share any interesting handedness stories you might have. The test gives the breakdown between the different types (left and right, strong and mixed) in the U.S. population. I wonder if there will be a similar breakdown among my readers.
For way, way more mixed-handed goodness, check out my ebooks Ambidextrous (for right-handers) and Ambisinistrous (for left-handers).
March 12th, 2009 at 2:24 am
I went to a left handed shop not long ago, and was a bit disappointed to find that there wasn’t anything in the shop I would actually use… I came out thinking “I’m a right hander and I never knew it!”. But it’s true, I even had to start writing with my right hand when I got RSI in my left. According to your test, I am +0.1.
I think a good measure would be what hand you use a tennis racquet with, or some other sporting equipment. I tend to use my right hand for things requiring strength and my left for things requiring delicacy, but that’s not always the case – I think I can perform most delicate operations with my right too.
For the record, I’m exactly 50/50 left brain/right brain too. It’s no fun right now – it’s making it very difficult to figure out what I want to do with my life.
March 12th, 2009 at 9:31 am
I’m so totally right handed. I’ve trained myself to use a left-handed mouse, but that’s it. Everything else I do with my right hand.
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome´s last blog post..Making suckiness good: Lab Rats Week 1
March 12th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Hunter. . .
You are hilarious. And you are totally wasting your technical skill – my second time to say this (first time was about your post rehasher). You even added Tweet It, and I used it. SO silly.
Thank you for using your creativity to brighten up our day.
Akemi – Yes to Me´s last blog post..Gratitude For Emptiness, My Online Gratitude Journal #25
March 12th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
I’m a right-hander all the way! However, when I’m doing something where I can use both hands at once – like getting food out of the fridge and cupboard at the same time – I do. Just makes chores go faster. Other than that, I’ve always been right.
Thanks for the Handedness test. It was fun and I look forward to your teaching us more about the pros and cons.
Laurie | Express Yourself to Success´s last blog post..Good Reads
March 12th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
My 10-year-old son is minus 0.4. I noticed he was left-handed early on, but I kind of wanted him to be right-handed so when he was a baby I consciously offered things to his right hand. Wonder if that helped to make him mixed-handed?
March 12th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
@ Sarah, that’s really interesting. It can be confusing to be split between left and right brained, but there are advantages too. If you keep looking for what you want to do, you’ll find it.
Tennis seems like a good task to include here. Maybe it’s correlated with throwing, so it wasn’t really a unique task to them. Just guessing.
@ Alex, now that’s unusual. What made you want to use a left handed mouse?
@ Akemi, you know I do technical stuff for a living, right? I was in a tweeting mood, so I figured I’d include a tweet link. I got quite a few new followers today! Glad you found it funny.
@ Laurie, that makes sense. Might as well put the other hand to use when possible. I’m looking forward to writing about the pros and cons too, but it will take some research and experimentation first.
@ Barbara, I think it might have. Left handers have to shake hands with their right hand, so they get used to sticking their right hand out when they might not otherwise. That probably encourages them to do other things right handed, and offering things to your son in his right hand may have too.
March 13th, 2009 at 12:42 am
Because when I used to use a mouse all day I’d seriously screw up my right shoulder. Learning to use a left-handed mouse meant I could share the strain across both sides.
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome´s last blog post..Making suckiness good: Lab Rats Week 1
March 13th, 2009 at 6:04 am
My score was -1.0. I do everything left-handed, except my mouse. That wasn’t a question, though.
March 13th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
I write and draw with my left hand but do just about everything else with my right hand (except open a jar — I NEVER knew I put my left hand on the lid until I took the test). I definitely adapted to the right-handed world from a young age because I found it extremely difficult to co-exist otherwise. I did such a good job adapting that today, I sew with my right hand, cook with my right hand (Hunter – I think this is what the test means when it says use a knife without a fork), use chopsticks with my right hand, etc. In fact, I am so “right-handed” that I can’t play softball because I can only catch and throw with my right hand!
March 14th, 2009 at 9:37 am
@ Alex, when I think of RSI and such, I think of it coming from the keyboard. I didn’t realize that a mouse could do it too. I guess that’s because most of us don’t spend nearly as much time with the mouse as the keyboard. If you’re using the mouse all day, that’s different.
@ Jeanne, some people say that for a left hander, using the mouse in their right hand is the best thing to do because it keeps their left hand free for other things. I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do with it though!
@ Ceres, that’s an interesting split. Writing is much easier right handed, but I guess it might be the hardest thing to switch. For softball, I guess you have to learn to throw with the hand that’s holding the glove!
March 15th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
I am +0.9, open jars with my left, but never thought about it until now. Does it count if I cannot draw well with my right or left?
March 16th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
@ Debra, I was going to say I would never open a jar with the other hand, but now that I think about it, it wouldn’t feel that awkward. If you can’t draw with either hand, that’s what we call normal!
March 31st, 2009 at 6:12 am
Interesting, brief, and thought-provoking. The handed-ness test almost compels me to log all of my activities that require my hands, and which hand plays a dominant, or singular, role. I scored -0.5, and gave myself a pat on the back, with my right hand. Fun.
I’m a left-hand forker, but when eating by hand, I hold the food with my right. Drinking glasses are held in my right. Itchy nose: right. The TP is handled with my left. I’ll pause the life story…I’m leaving now, in search of a 10,000 plus questionnaire, so thank you for this page!
@Sarah: Finesse is definitely handled with my left, but oddly, the tasks that require strength, and precision are handled by my right, albeit poorly. I can’t pound a nail at all with my left, but can’t pound it straight with my right. Thank goodness i’m not a carpenter. I’ve felt a loss at being very “OK” at the things I do regardless of which hand I use, ‘cuz it’d be cool to be good with a single hand, but I decided that what I do with my life is make my wife smile, my puppy happy, and that’s what I do with my life. Some very talented left/right handers can’t do the same.
@Debra S: I feel you on the drawing, but being closer to the middle, I choose to chicken-scratch with my left, as I LOVE having ink, pencil, and paint on my left pinky. And it is almost ingrained in people that if you say you’re a lefty, they take it easy on your penmanship and drawing. Stereotypes are bad, but I do rely on this one.
April 1st, 2009 at 9:28 pm
@ Jeff, thanks for sharing so many details about your handedness! It’s always interesting to see how it breaks down for different people.
May 14th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
im a -0.3 interesting artical
May 18th, 2009 at 5:50 am
I took the test myself and got a score of +1.0 (pure righty).
You can add my score to your handedness results page if you like.
I’m sure you could learn interesting things if you got a whole lot of results and compared the results to what you know, personality-wise, about each person who took the test.
May 20th, 2009 at 7:01 am
I scored a -0.2 in this test. Left handers are supposed to use feeling, whereas right handers use logic. Generally, I do both equally. I love thinking about philosophy and yet I love science and maths. I’m not very artistic or creative but I tend to ‘learn basics’ quicker. E.g. Guitar.
Generally in sports where you use a club or a stick etc I’m right-handed.
Throwing overarm I use my right arm, underarm throw left
Cricket bowl, left hand
Tenpin Bowl, left hand
Well, it’s all confusing but it’s extremely interesting.
June 3rd, 2009 at 11:12 am
I don’t know what this means. I play tennis left. I play racquetball right. I play handball left. I throw left. I write right.
When I aim a rifle I hold it right handed, but want to use my left eye to sight.
I thought I was right handed and left armed, but the racquetball doesn’t fit that scenario.
July 20th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
I’m not sure if I’m mixed handed or ambidextrous. I can do everything equally well with both hands, but I normally do some things with my left and some things with my right.
Left: Table tennis, pool, floorball, golf, fencing, eating (when I use only a fork or a spoon) to sew, to knit, play guitar and to cut things.
Right: Badminton, stir things like soup etc, throw thigs and play miniature golf.
I use both hands equally much throughout the day for tasks like: brush my teeth and hair, tie my shoe laces, ironing, catch things, do the dishes, dusting, eat (when using a fork and a knife I often switch during the meal from right-handed to left-handed). The computer mouse is switched from the left side to the right side from time to time. I can also use the scissors equally well with both hands. I even have a pair of right-handed scissors and a pair of left-handed scissors.
My handwriting is identical no matter which hand I write with.
To me it’s more strange that people can be either right or left handed.
July 20th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
@ Alice, that’s very unusual, and I would call you ambidextrous. Just wondering: do you ever have trouble distinguishing left from right? Like if someone says “turn left,” do you ever get that wrong? I heard that the more symmetrical someone’s brain is, the harder it is for them to tell left from right.
July 21st, 2009 at 4:38 am
Hunter: I have trouble with that. Especially if I’m driving in new places. It doesn’t help when people yell “no, turn right” if I’ve turned left in stead of right for instance. My brother just says “no, the other left” if I’ve taken a wrong turn. That way I don’t stop and think about which way I had tured to begin with.
I also had trouble when learning which way was right, and which way was left. Everyone said: The left side is the side you have you’re watch on, and the right side is the side you write with.
That didn’t really get me very far. Like I said above, I can write equally well with both hands, and I prefer to switch my watch from left to right every now and then.
Some times, the only way I can tell for sure is by looking at a scar I got on my left hand sixteen years ago, when I was five-years-old.
July 24th, 2009 at 10:02 am
+0.3 has been my result. Less than 0.5
And i’m even a whole brained (accordin to brain tests)
July 28th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
i got -0.5. I use my right hand only for openings twistable jars and using scissors.When I broom, I often switch between hands, but feel more comfortable with left.
I’m consider myself a leftie ~ Am very artistic and perhaps equally scholastic ( at studies ). People at my school used to be surprised when they got to know I am painting with my left hand.Once in grade 6, I had a class partner(we shared the same long bench) whom I noticed was a leftie after almost a month.I have a book on Left-hander syndrome which says it’s very usual for people not to notice lefties around easily.
I used to complete my younger bro’s kindergarten alphabet writing work with my right hand. And I did that because my left hand’s, my right hand’s, and my bro’s right hand’s handwriting is quite similar ,in cursive.
I recently tried to learn writing with my right hand and found out that I mess up lesser than others trying to switch hands for writing. Maybe that’s because I have wrote a bit more than them.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:01 am
Its cool to know that others also think about the right / left situation. I write with my right , i find my self comfortable doing other things with my left , when I used to train my left side was the strongest , I always used left hand and left leg for support especially for one hand moves. I was doing a diploma in Sports and while training athletics , doing the triple jump the coach realised that I dont have a good foot and I can stopped from jumping as I used both legs equally with the same results. She told me that I would be perfect for this sports. More over I too started using the mouse with the left. Anyway I am really confused. i am sure that if I train properly like kids do I will be able to write properly withthe left too.. what do you think
August 15th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
@ Gabz, yes, I think you could learn to write properly with your left hand. It’s just a question of whether you want to.
August 17th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Hi!
Do u think I might have both hemispheres of my brain equally developed? how can I find out?
Recently, I was trying to scoop the soccer ball with my right foot ‘n failed many times. I tried doin that with my left foot n did it in 1 go..I was amazed.But I still feel my right foot works better than my left..Same is with basketball..I am confused..
BUt I control the mouse with the left hand..when I use others’ computers, they get irritated finding the mouse lyin on the left side. so I try to remember to keep it back.Living in a right handed world is weird sometimes….pls do reply
August 17th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
@ Eemaan, I don’t think handedness has that much to do with developing your brain. Motor control is just one thing our brain handles. It does a lot of other stuff too. I’m sure your brain is developed enough.
August 18th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
thanks hunter!
how do u take out time to reply to people’s mails in just a day??
but I was asking about being whole-brained.
I got this book ”the left-handed syndrome” sth like that from the library n found the research on lefties really interesting…U might wanna try it out
August 20th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
I totally agree with Hunter Nuttall
About foot, i’m nearly totally left footed, and ambidextrous to play at football.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Interesting article and responses. Thanks.
Just to answer an earlier question, it’s possible to throw with one hand and play tennis with another. Me. Although if the ball is just out of reach I often switch hands automatically for both tennis and squash.
I scored a +0.4. Oh and I have a real problem with left and right directions unless I’m concentrating. Now at 40, it’s certainly easier than it was when I was younger, my hand preference seems to have solidified so doing something with the other hand feels weird now. Except frisbee – oddly, I seem to have forgotten which hand I throw a frisbee with and both sides now feel kind of wrong.
September 16th, 2009 at 2:58 am
I have a score of -0.1 I can write both handed and all other things I can do with both handed so I am more Left than right?
September 24th, 2009 at 1:46 am
Based on these questions, I posted a 0.4, being a mixed right-hander, but I don’t agree. Even though I write with my right hand, I feel my left hand is the more dominant one. Yes, I do write, throw with my right hand, use the mouse with the right hand, brush teeth, use fork, but with most tasks, I use my left hand: tossing frisbees, playing air hockey, ping pong, pool (left hand on the upper end of the stick and right hand on the end), when I shovel, I shovel to the right, with my left hand on the upper end of the shovel, just like a hockey stick, also I use the left hand for video game controls, and if I played a guitar, I would have to use my left hand to handle the strings. I also use my left hand to cut food, open my Pepsi bottles. When at work, and I have to answer the phone, the phone is positioned on my left, so I can pick it up with my left hand.
This is strange though: while at amusement parks, playing the games, I use my right hand to shoot the water pistol gun, but if
it’s a game with a rifle, I have to actually shoot the trigger with my left hand and hold the rifle in my right hand. Speaking of amusement park games, whenever I play the basketball toss, my
left hand is always higher than my right hand on the ball when I
shoot.
And whenever I reach for things, it’s with my left hand
I know I can’t do any task with either hand, I’m not ambidextrous.
But overall, I feel that I’m more of a “lefty” than a “righty”. Oh, and
I was never forced at a young age to be a “righty” by my Catholic
school teachers, LOL. I always wrote right-handed. Go figure!
I think it’s both mind-boggling and fascinating at the same time
about the hand dominance. I just wish there was an explanation
already about why and how this happens. But I’m glad to hear it’s
just not me!
September 24th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
Carol, I’m now turning up as +0.2, though I’d consider my left hand to be more dominant. Go figure. Regardless of the actual breakdown, at least we can agree that we’re mixed-handed!
October 2nd, 2009 at 2:49 am
try write difficult stuffs (e.g. arabic,asian languages that will say what hand you are).
October 5th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
My 12-year-old daughter took the test and was a -0.6 She does everything left-handed except write or draw. She can throw right-handed much better than I can throw left-handed (I am a +0.9) but has more strength and accuracy when she throws left-handed. She does use a mouse right-handed but I think that is a learned behavior since she shares the computer with right-handed people and just never changes it. She considers herself left-handed. She pointed out that her right hand is larger than her left, but the left side of her body is stronger and her left foot is bigger. She appears to be left-footed. She is also highly creative, imaginative, very artistic and has very advanced verbal skills.
October 8th, 2009 at 10:22 am
I’m a mixed right handed (+0.3) I grew up as right handed but there were things i used to do with left. At some point, i felt the need to find a balance between right and left. There were things i learned to do (writing) and things realized i could do without learning much(drawing).
Things i could do with the right i started doing them with the left as well . And things i could do with the left i started doing them with the right. I started feeling better from then. I felt like i was fully “myself”.
With both sides i can do : writing, drawing, brushing, shaving, kicking, punching, long or jumping… I use mouse computer on both sides too.
Left exclusively: Guitar, opening jar :anything requiring strength, (my left arm and wrist are also more flexible) Hearing on the phone.
Right exclusively: any precision task (cutting, throwing) playing soccer with right foot.
One last thing :I’ve always had hesitation before locating east from west.
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:30 am
My score was -0.8. I was strongly encouraged to write with my right hand as a child. I paint and draw with my left hand. I was always confused about which hand I should use for what, and it often depended on who was showing me how to do the task. I use a cricket bat right handed(and poorly) because my brothers showed me how to use a bat. This test was interesting because I hadn’t realised how left handed I am- Wondering whether uncoordination as a child was a result of constant quandry on which hand to use!!
January 8th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Wow I never realized there was an official “mixed handedness” I do everything with my left hand but I usually write with my right (can do both pretty well)…. I just thought I was a weird righty… My score on this test was -.2 which really surprised me (:
January 25th, 2010 at 8:34 am
My test result was -0.7. The “tennis question” is one that I have confused myself about before, as when I play cricket, I am totally right handed, (batting, bowling and throwing) but play raquet sports (tennis, squash, badminton and table tennis left handed.
January 25th, 2010 at 8:55 am
I tested as a +0.2. Though I’ve always considered myself left handed because I write with that hand, I probably do use my right hand more. I’ve discovered over the years that for most things that are primarily done in a left/right plane (writing, swinging a bat) I’m use my left. For things in a more forward/back or up/down (using scissors, throwing a ball, shooting basketball) I use my right. Crazy. I am also pretty evenly left/right brained and life is confusing when you want to be more creative but the logical side of you holds it back. If I could ever get them to work together…
January 25th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
V interesting site. I got a score of 0.1. I use my left hand for writing/drawing and using cutlery, but my right for throwing and using scissors. I have never wanted left handed scissors – I’ve always used my right hand so I guess that test is useful for me.
January 26th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
When I was 9 years old, teacher called me to the board to work a math problem. After working the problem, she said, “I thought you were left handed.” Thats the first time I realized that I perfer to do somethings right handed, like write on a chalk board. I bat, throw and catch right handed, shoot pool and golf left handed. I eat, draw and write left, shoot a pistol right, but can paint, hammer and use other handtools equally well with either hand. My dad is the only lefty out of seven siblings born to right handed parents. He is one of those “can’t do anything with his right hand” lefties. My only sibling, a brother, is likewise a strong lefty. I got the mixed handedness.
January 27th, 2010 at 9:46 am
I scored -4. What do you think about the sudy by Alina Rodrigues, et. al. that is being publicized today (1/26/10) saying that mixed handed children have more of a tendency toward difficulty with language and math, and have more “mental” issues?
January 27th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
@ Jo Ann, I have some problems with that study, starting with their claim that 1% of all people are mixed-handed. It’s really more like 42%, so I don’t know what their definition of mixed-handed is. I’ve heard that ambidextrous people may be brain damaged, and that could be true, but let’s not confuse that with being mixed-handed. Almost nobody is even close to being truly ambidextrous, especially not naturally so, far less than 1% of the population.
February 20th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
I scored -0.4. I was naturally left handed but my first grade teacher forced me to write with my right hand. I have terrible penmanship but I can draw very well.
I play sports (lacrosse, baseball etc) lefthanded and naturally use a fork left handed.
I see myself as a left hander who writes with the wrong hand.
February 21st, 2010 at 8:07 pm
I scored 0.0, but I feel 90% left-handed. From as far back as I can remember, I used my left hand for EVERYTHING but writing & eating (I eat comfortably with my right hand, unless I’m using a fork & knife, at which point I more naturally use my left). When I first learned to iron, my older sisters would always yell at me for facing the ironing board the “wrong” way & ironing w/the “wrong hand.” I paint (a house) with my left hand. Other things I do left-handed: brush my teach, golf, play a guitar, bat a softball/baseball, throw a ball (and then put the glove on my left hand to catch!), point at things, bowl, fence, start walking with my left foot, mix ingredients in a bowl. But I’m right-eyed. I don’t know if that goes back to my PAL rifle shooting days as a child when I was fitted w/a right-handed shooting jacket & taught to use a rifle using my right eye to aim. I’m VERY interested in learning about whether the effects of being mix-handed affect other parts of the brain, or have anything to do with ADD in adults. I believe I grew up with ADD, but it was not a known issue back then, and wonder if all this had anything (or EVERYTHING) to do with it. Please keep me posted! I’d be willing to consider tests …
February 26th, 2010 at 5:25 am
I’m +.1. I write, draw lefty, use mouse lefty, broom lefty. Throw and hit, play guitar, and play golf righty. But I couldn’t get the left and right together to play piano. I can use chopsticks and play raquetball lefty and righty. I actually pissed off my brother by beating him in raquetball as a righty and then I switched to lefty and I beat him again. We haven’t played since. But as a soccer goalie, I kicked righty.
Weird thing happened to me in the first class back from vacation in early grade school. I couldn’t remember what hand I wrote with. I was literally blank. No frickin clue. I tried both hands. And at that age, my handwriting was horrible both ways. But that didn’t stop my idiot self from asking a classmate, “which hand do I write with? I can’t remember.” Yeah, that’s the look he gave me. My brother is lefty so I figured I should be lefty too — never realizing at that age that my brother being adopted wouldn’t really play a part in which hand I could write with. In any case, my lefty writing was only slightly neater and more comfortable my righty writing. I can still write (and print) with both hands, but righty is messier. If I focus only on the word I’m trying to write and not focus on getting my right hand to write it, it comes out much neater — same thing for raquetball. I can hit the ball better lefty if I focus on the ball and not on trying to make my left arm swing.
I also have migraines. I get tingling and auras (blind spots that look like shimmering rattle snakes) about 40 minutes before the pain hits. Supposedly the migraine can be on the right or left side, but I honestly can’t remember. You would think I would having so many of them over the years.
I’m gifted with creative skills in drawing, photoshop, and I have made my own computer programs. I’m a Sagittarius. And I love animals more than people. How many doggie douchbags do you know? Exactly.
February 26th, 2010 at 5:32 am
I forgot one thing. I play sports including basketball righty, but I amazed my coach when I switched hands in the air and made a left handed lay up. I didn’t know I could do that.
February 27th, 2010 at 12:35 am
I am mixed handed. The handedness tests messes with my mind because when I have just sit and think about I am not sure on some tasks. I write left handed, eat with fork and spoon in left hand and knife always in right hand. I throw right handed but can play ping pong and use a mouse left or right handed. I hold a cup in my left hand unless I am eating a sandwich then I hold the sandwich in my left hand and the cup in my right hand. When I open a jar I start with one hand then shift to the other if I am having trouble opening it. I use keys in my right hand because it is hard to start a car with the keys in my left hand. I used to skate and would jump right handed and spin left handed. If someone yells at me to turn left or right when I am driving it’s anybody’s guess as to what happens.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:54 am
I always thought I was left handed, but when I paid more attention, I realised my left hand is the dexterous (irony) one, while my right is the strong one. I scored 0.1. But I think I am becoming more right handed with age?
PS maybe the knife question can also mean about buttering your bread?
PPS I was forced to use left handed scissors as a child, because I was a left handed writer, but I hated them! I’ve always been better at scissoring with my rightie..
PPPS A question- wonder if what ear you use to listen on the phone is an indicator?
March 8th, 2010 at 1:16 am
@ Kat, most people prefer their right ear, but this preference is not correlated with handedness. Strange, huh?
March 19th, 2010 at 10:20 pm
Hello,my score was -0.1, I am naturally right handed, but i have the tendency to do a lot of things with with left hand without even realizing it(like writing for example). A lot of my family on my mothers side is left-handed(including my mother), and I got most of my traits from her. I am the only child in my family that can remotely use their left hand without struggling.
Some days I feel like being right-handed others i feel like being left-handed, weird huh? When I was younger I never knew my left from my right, I was constantly having to hold my hands up in an ‘L’ to see which one was my right or left hand. I still sometimes get my right and left confused.
Anyways, according to your test I am a mixed left-hander, even though I am naturally right handed which confused me.
March 23rd, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Hi my score was +1.0 yet I golf and play hockey left handed. Should this not factor into the test and results?
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:46 pm
my score was +0.1 i believe i am natural right handed however aproximately 3/4 of the taskes in the test i do left handed or swich between right and left. and i believe sports should be in the test i used to catch with my left and throw with my right because those were the gloves i was always given i was then given a glove for my right hand and throw with my left i bring this up because i am confused as to wich is more important catching or throwing if i could i would throw and catch with my left hand and to answer the box vs. jar question i would open the jar with my left hand but when opening a box i think most pple use both but if using just my hands left if using a box cutter to say remove tape right o and thank u very much for your article it helped prove a teacher he DOESNT know everything
March 24th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
My score was 0.0 One thing I’ve noticed is that although I prefer to write/draw left-handed on paper… on a chalk board/white board, I am much neater right handed. For most other things I can switch between hands.
March 29th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
my score was 0 which is neutral
i am naturally left handed,
but all of my family are right handed except for my sister,
which led my parents to guess i may have copied my
sister with choosing my left hand instead
meaning i should have been right handed
i use scissors with my right hand as well
however, i do alot of tasks with my right hand which i never
realised before, and with no practice, i can perform tasks with either hand well
April 15th, 2010 at 10:50 am
My score was -0.1. I self-identify as left-handed, though if given the opportunity I explain that I am fine-motor left-dominant, and gross-motor right-dominant. I onyl write, eat, and brush my teeth lefty and do everything else righty.
As for sports, I could always switch-hit in softball and I play tennis by changing hands and using a double forehand swing with no backhand. I shoot a pistol righty.
Similar to one of the posts above, I can write on a chalk-board/white-board with my right hand more legibly (though more slowly) than most people do with their dominant hand, but I still strongly prefer my left hand for all writing implements.
April 16th, 2010 at 5:16 am
I’m really confused.. I use my write hand ever since I could remember, but mostly of my daily task i always use my right hand, left hand when holding a spoon(changed it to right coz my grandma’ told me to do so).. I play the guitar using my right hand(coz most guitars are right handed) but when I tried a left hand guitar it was totally comfortable and whats odd was when I was practicing with right it took me a year or two but when I tried left it only took me a week or two to match my right hand skill.. send me and email which hand will I use… thnx
vladimir.anotado@gmail.com
April 17th, 2010 at 11:15 am
0.8
April 26th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Hi,
I stumbled onto this site while looking specifically for information about mixed-handedness and digit ratio (length of index/forefinger compared to ring finger).
Men usually have a longer ring finger than index finger. Women usually have an index and ring finger of nearly equal length, or their index finger is slightly longer than the ring finger.
Apparently left- and mixed-handed people of both sexes are more likely to have a shorter index/forefinger than ring finger.
This is thought to be associated with foetal exposure to testosterone. And some neurologists/psychologists believe it accounts for anomalous behaviours in left-handed women.
Mixed-handedness is also associated with some developmental, and occasionally lifelong, problems with physical coordination and some learning tasks. (For one view of problems associated with absence of laterality see http://www.telegraphindia.com/
1090914/jsp/knowhow/story_11487884.jsp)
Here’s a quote from the article on that page:
Problems arise in 20 per cent of the population that doesn’t have a dominant
hemisphere to determine laterality or handedness. Their brains are “cross wired”,
giving them mixed handedness or laterality, cross dominance, mixed dominance or
cross laterality. In short, the right hand may be matched with the left foot or the left
hand with the right eye. This leads to confused, crossed signals in the brain when
complex tasks are performed. The electrical and chemical signals have to crisscross
the midline before they eventually reach their final destination in the
designated area of the brain. Therefore, such individuals are accident prone, and
have things around them explode, collapse, catch fire or fall apart. Day-to-day
objects are misplaced, and navigation from one place to another (with left to right
confusion) — even along familiar roads — becomes a nightmare.
Now this description really resonates for me, although it appears to contradict what you have written on your handedness test page about the superiority of the corpus callosum in mixed-handed people. I frequently get so confused about left and right that I am hopeless at giving people directions for finding my house. When I sit down to eat with knife and fork I often catch myself changing the fork and knife several times before I can decided which implement matches each hand. Mind you, the fork always ends in the left hand, knife in the right, so I don’t quite understand how the discomfort/confusion arises.
I’m very slow at processing and remembering certain types of information, usually things that require spatial memory – especially if the thing I’m trying to remember involves any sort of peripheral vision.
I’m also slow at pattern recognition.
I’m an appalling typist. The only reason no one knows is that I constantly proofread and correct everything I write. Some of my typing errors are bizarre. Most typing errors occur with keys very near the key you were aiming for. But I have occasionally typed an X when I was aiming for a P. I don’t understand how this can happen.
My cac-handedness in dealing with most of the physical world is disguised for people who don’t know me well because I was always verbally precocious even though I’m pretty sure I had other learning deficits.
My handedness score, incidentally, was -0.2, which certainly confirms mixed-handedness.
Like some other people who’ve commented here, I appear to be left-handed for fine motor skills, right-handed for anything that requires strength.
The exception is scissors. I agree that scissors are an exception and probably shouldn’t be on the test. However, I think many left-handers learn to use right-handed scissors not through imitation but through necessity. There simply were no left-handed scissors in my childhood (1950s and 60).
I also notice that, for activities and tools that require no hand preference and no great strength (eg answering the phone, reaching for or holding a mug), I always prefer the left. I believe this indicates a basic preference for the left that has nothing to do with fine motor skills or strength. So I think I’d never have developed a preference for right-handed scissors if I’d had a choice.
I’d be interested to hear what other people have to say about their handedness and their digit ratio as well as their sense of being clumsy or clever with their hands.
Finally, I’m wondering if recent claims and discoveries about neuroplasticity would lend any credence to your claims about the benefits of learning to become ambidextrous.
April 26th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Catherine,
Let me respond to some of your post. I already posted my test results.
I am female and yes my index is shorter than my ring finger.
I’m very coordinated. I can juggle and hackysack with dexterity, but I cannot drum as much as I would have liked to learn. There’s also a possibility that the teacher sucked so there’s that. I also find it amusing that the report mentions outrageous clumsiness (“Therefore, such individuals are accident prone, and
have things around them explode, collapse, catch fire or fall apart.”). I’m none of those things yet I do find it coincidental that my zodiac sign, Sagittarius (guy with the horse legs) is very clumsy and awkward according to those moon and stars people.
I am a horrible typist. I type too fast and stumble — forever riding the delete key — if I’m reading along with the typing. I find that I’m a much improved typist in both speed and accuracy if I do not look at the screen.
I tend to use my right hand to pick up my mug so I can operate the computer or write simultaneously. I do find that I tend to pour with my left hand and lift things like a heavy pot with either hand.
I have migraines once a every few months, in and around my period. It used to be more frequent and more painful when I was in my twenties. I was surprised to get question on which side of the head does the pain start on. I don’t know. It changes. Apparently for some it’s a specific area. I get the pain in my eyebrow, under my jaw when my arteries throbs like mad and I get it on the back of my head. I’m lucky in the respect that I get warning signs before the pain hits (the aura, tingling/numbness in my fingers, face, lips, tongue, and I have trouble speaking. I will say the wrong word when I mean something else.). Despite my efforts I can’t remember the location after the migraine, especially when the aftermath hits (brain fog) which lasts 3-4 days and I lose tens of IQ points. I literally cannot think after a migraine. The most I can do is watch TV.
Three more things
– I have trouble reading large numbers. I have to cover part of the number with my thumb otherwise I count the same number twice. This is particularly difficult when there are multiples in a long row of numbers. I can’t tell if there are two or three of the same, but I have no trouble if it’s just 3 of the same — like a phone number. 555-6555.
– I have a weird problem with figuring out my age. Because I’m born in December, I’m literally only a few days at a new age before the year leaps forward. On paper, it looks like I’m a year older by an extra year and for some reason I get really confused by that.
– I misread things in a flash with funny results. For example, Pot Roast was read as Post Rot, which was oddly apt given the look of the roast.
April 26th, 2010 at 11:39 pm
Turn on your TV, flip to a hockey game and count the number of left handed players. In hockey and other sports being left handed is a major benefit.
I scored somewhere on the mixed but strongly leaning towards left handed range and I do very well at sports (I played varsity soccer, lacrosse and ran track (hurdles, high jump etc)) and I can play hockey and baseball fairly well.
Some of the problems described here seem to be a form of dyslexia. Incidentally I am dyslexic but it manifests mostly as problems with simple math. Ask me to divide two numbers and I look like an idiot but ask me to solve a combinatorics problem and I have no trouble at all.
There may be a sample size issue in drawing conclusions from a group of “polymaths” and mixed handed people in addition to a bias towards people who know what a polymath is. Basically the question is being asked of a very narrow portion of the population.
April 27th, 2010 at 12:19 am
Hi Robin,
On which day in December were you born?
I have little time for astrology, but I’m wondering how close together our birth dates might be. Mine is exactly three weeks before – and always falls on the same day of the week as – Christmas.
Apart from your greater dexterity, we have a few similarities – eg migraines and memory for long numbers. However, my migraines are nearly always on the left parietal, and I’ve often wondered if there was a link to right cross-over dominance.
Yes, I agree the paediatrician who wrote about mixed-handedness made some crude generalisations. She said, for instance: “People with mixed laterality alternate hands when writing and legs when kicking.” I’m mixed handed and have never done either of these things. Nor do I have healed fractures from childhood accidents, which she says are de rigeur for mixed-handers.
I mentioned the article only because it appears to represent a trend in thinking about mixed-handed children.
Nevertheless, a lot of current research is suggesting:
a) a high coincidence between mixed-handedness and ADD and
b) a high coincidence between mixed-handedness and schizotypal personality traits.
(Schizotypal personalities are not schizophrenic but are most strikingly typified by metamagical thinking.) The shorter index finger is also supposed to be common in both these groups.
I seem to be incapable of any sort of magical thinking, but could easily fall into the ADD group.
On the other hand, I’d be cautious about attributing too much significance to correlations like these. They say nothing about causation.
April 27th, 2010 at 12:57 am
Hi Clare,
Your point about left handers is well taken, but the comments I made were about mixed-handedness, which is a bit more common than being purely left-handed but seems to have received far less scientific attention.
As for polymaths? I can’t exactly see why a site that deals with handedness should have the subtitle “Personal Development for Polymaths”. I believe the site’s author may be suggesting that we can all become truly ambidextrous – and perhaps by extension polymaths – if we buy his book.
You’re right about the size of the sample. But that would present a problem on any website.
Anyway, sorry if I gave the impression that I expected to draw conclusions. I was really only soliciting impressions and experiences. I wouldn’t regard those as reliable evidence but as interesting titbits.
April 27th, 2010 at 2:02 am
Wow, we got a big flood of comments recently! Let me respond to a few points people have made.
1. I’ve heard that longer ring fingers are correlated with higher testosterone levels. See the test mentioned in The Science of Seduction.
2. The sample is definitely skewed because the population is not representative. As of my last update, 36% of the respondents are left-handed and 9% are perfectly neutral. Clearly we would not get these results in a scientific study where people were randomly polled (it would be more like 11% left-handed and 0% or 1% neutral). I’m OK with this though, as my intention is merely to poll my visitors and not the broad population.
3. As for why a site that deals with handedness has the subtitle “Personal Development for Polymaths,” it’s the other way around. The site’s subtitle is “Personal Development for Polymaths,” and therefore handedness is a relevant topic, as it’s something that a person with broad interests is likely to be interested in.
This blog is aimed at a certain type of person rather than being focused on a niche topic. Why? Because if I wrote exclusively about handedness (or any other topic), I would have run out of things to say by now.
I don’t mean to suggest that this book (or any of my others) will make people into polymaths. I think either you have lots of interests or you don’t, but I actually don’t encourage people to pick up additional interests just for the sake of being well-rounded. I suggest that people just go with what they are.
However, I do claim that my book will help people become “ambidextrous” as that word is commonly used. I’m not sure if anyone is truly ambidextrous (by my standards, at least), and it’s certainly not something to strive for. However, having more control over your handedness and using it to your advantage is something that can benefit people. Athletes are an obvious example, but the benefits are by no means limited to them.
April 27th, 2010 at 2:13 am
Hi Claire.
Close. I was born on 12/20.
I don’t believe I have ADD or schizotypal personality traits. As far as magical thinking, I would say no. I’m not big on external forces solving my problems, but I am a highly creative person — writer. I can in fact been too focused at times when I should move on to the next thing but I don’t; this comes from the notion that I should be able to solve any problem, I just need time. And sadly that’s just a notion. I do wonder about the migraine placement, but I’ll have to do better to remember exactly where it strikes the most. Do you take anything for your migraines? I take extra strength excedrine because I can more or less deal with the pain, but it’s the follow days of brain fog that are my greatest problem. I used to take percocet (I think), but I have a weird reaction to painkillers — they make me feel worse. I avoid them because even after major surgery, I find my pain is less than the painkiller side effects. Surprised the hell out of my doctor, but I guess I have a high tolerance to pain thanks to the migraines. BTW, my memory is for shit and I blame the migraines.
Catherine, I didn’t conclude that you were standing by those reports, but I took it upon myself to say that they simply don’t apply to me.
April 27th, 2010 at 8:05 pm
I scored a +.4, which I found interesting because I have always considered myself mostly left-handed. (I write left-handed so that probably influenced my thinking.) The other thing I’ve always found interesting is that my dad is also mixed-handed, but he and I in general do the same tasks with our opposite hands. For example, in baseball, he bats right and throws left, and I bat left and throw right, and there are at least 4 other examples I can think of.
Other random stuff: I type pretty well, my index finger is longer than my ring finger, and I am bipolar. I’m also left-eye dominant, which causes me to shoot pool and a rifle left-handed.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
+0.1 to 0.0
I usually do my writing/drawing with left hand and most other things with my right.
As i got older what i started out doing left or right would switch. It’s like i forgot which one i felt more comfortable with. Now I tend to use either hand at things.
June 26th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
I scored +0.2. I write and draw with my left hand always, but when I was little I used to write to the centre of the page with my left hand and then switch to my right hand – is this common (I imagine it might be in kids)? I can still write better with my ‘other’ hand than other people I know who are more one-handed. I play sports with my right hand, but am more mixed footed and in other practical tasks am more of a mix.
However, the thing I have always done best at is language (English and foreign languages) and writing/speaking, which is more left brain dominant and fit in best with being a right hander.
The only person in my family who is not fairly strongly right handed is a great aunt. She was born in 1900 here in England and had her hand tied behind her back to ‘encourage’ her to use her right, again quite common! My school teachers in the late 1970s asked my mum wasn’t she concerned I was writing with my left hand? She said no!
I have suffered from depression and am quite scatterbrained/daydreamy/find it hard to focus or concentrate, despite doing very well academically. But I find it very easy to tell left from right.
I am also rubbish at any sport/activity that involves aiming, which I have heard is common in mixed handers?
July 2nd, 2010 at 6:55 am
I got -0.1, which seems about right. I do *most* things with my left hand, it seems, and use my right hand for a variety of other things, only a few of which absolutely must be done right-handed. Generally speaking, though, if I don’t automatically go left, it’s not a matter of “which hand is taking over” that makes me use my right hand so much as just random luck, I guess.
When I was a kid, I remember my earliest teachers trying to get me to write exclusively with my right hand, because I had a habit of just switching from hand to hand. When one hand got tired while I was writing, I’d simply switch off to the other hand, a very nifty ability that I really wish I still had! Sometime when I was around 8 or 9, though, I think, I must have just gotten used to writing with my left hand.
Strangely enough, whereas the dominant hand / dominant side of brain theory says I SHOULD be good at math and science-y stuff, I’ve actually always been a writer and English person. Go figure.
Even more strange is that my mom told me once that I was supposed to be a twin. Given that whole creepy “vanishing twin” theory about lefties, I’d…really rather not think about that, lol. But just throwing that out there anyway.
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:05 am
Oh! And I forgot to mention a few other details. For starters, no one else in my immediate family is even remotely left-handed, near as I can tell, and the only person I know of for sure who was left-handed at all was my dad’s grandmother.
In most of my classes at my college, the desks are those awful one-piece deals that have been in use since approximately c. 1965. On the very rare occasion I come across one specifically made for lefties, I can’t deal with it. I get so awkward and uncomfortable that I end up changing seats back to the standard right-handed desk.
It didn’t occur to me until humiliatingly recently why everyone in grade school always looked at me funny when the side of my left hand and wrist would constantly be smudged with pencil lead (or paint or chalk or whatever if we were in art class). I was explaining this to my mom one day and she looked at me like she had no idea what I was talking about, and that’s when I finally realized that, no, she actually didn’t. Right-handed writers don’t have to worry about smearing their words clear across the page. For whatever reason, that had NEVER occurred to me. I was both mortified that it took me this long to realize this and outraged that yet again, the world proves to be a cruel and inhabitable place for us lefties (or semi-lefties, even).
July 16th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
My score+0.8
I open jars with my left hand. I also am researching handedness. The development of handedness is linked to the corpus callosum. In my work, if we see a child that is mixed. We look at their physical movements. If they are lopsided or are unable to use all four limbs freely, then we send them for a structural exam, by a DO that specializes in cranial sacral or a chiropractor. Often there is some kind of structural issue (collar bone difficulties….) that has forced the person to use their left hand (if we see movement issues). I look and look for studies that focus on the structure of the body and mixed handedness, but everything is focused on the brain.
But if your collar bone is out from a traumatic birth, then you might avoid using your right or left arm due to pain that has always been there. Anyone out there know of any studies that look at handedness and structural issues????
August 5th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Interesting. I am a -0.1. Math is my “loser” subject: although I was an A+ in logic. School/college was many years ago.
I spent most of my working life in left-brain professions, including accounting and computer program design. My personal life-long profession is as an artist – painting, drawing, sculpting, among others. Over the years I found that when my work jobs were particularily demanding, that my art suffered, and the reverse was also true.
Being mixed-handed has been a wonderful thing. Being able to switch hands for a great many things is very handly (pardon the pun). Golf, tennis, baseball – either hand; archery – right hand; pistol – right: rifle – left.
Sometimes one needs an extra “hand” for various things: toes are quite remarkable in this respect. I prefer my right toes over my left.
Yes, I am also a polymath.
August 21st, 2010 at 12:38 am
i am .5 on the scale, i use my left hand for things like writing and brushing my teeth, but use my right for physical activities like throwing or punching.
August 21st, 2010 at 12:42 am
-.2*
August 23rd, 2010 at 10:23 pm
@ Stu, so are you .5 or -.2? What does the asterisk mean?