Sinistrality is associated with (slightly) lower general intelligence: A data synthesis and consideration of the secular trend in handedness
Open accessAbstract
The relationship between the general factor of intelligence (g) and handedness is investigated using a combined sample of 23511 respondents from three large databases: the NLSY'79 (US), NLSY'97 (US) and NCDS (UK). Dextrals - those who use their right hands were found to be 1.22 IQ points higher than sinistrals (left handers) after controlling for sex and age and correcting for sources of measurement error. To see if the association between IQ and handedness was strongest on the abilities that were the best measures of g, the method of correlated vectors was used to test for moderation. Across the three studies, g was found to very weakly negatively moderate the association between ability measure and handedness (ρ = -.023, K = 3, N = 23511), however in the NLSY'79, the coding speed subtest was an outlier in terms of the strength of its association with handedness. Its removal yielded indications of positive moderation in this dataset, which when aggregated boosted the overall vector correlation value to .539 (K = 3, N = 23511), suggesting that g might be an important moderator of this relationship. Secondary analysis of secular trend data on the changing percentage of sinistrals in Western populations indicates that overall, sinistrality has increased, entailing a g decline of .106 points over 150 years (.006 points per decade). The secular increase in sinistrality is consistent with other data indicating long-term declines in developmental stability and may stem from some combination of increasing mutation load and environmental stress in Western populations.
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Overcorrection, where the vector correlation becomes greater than 1.00, is a commonly encountered problem when disattenuation adjustments are applied.
“overcorrection (where the vector correlation becomes >1.00) is a commonly encountered problem when these sorts of adjustments are applied (e.g., Woodley of Menie et al., 2018).”
From A Meta-Analysis of Spearman’s Hypothesis in the United States (2026) · cites this paper as Woodley of Menie et al., 2018
In the Analysis involving MCV section (page not specified), the paper reports one vector correlation that rose above 1.00 after measurement-error correction and calls this overcorrection. That supports the definition and an example, but not the claim that the problem is commonly encountered. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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- Authors
- Woodley of Menie, M. A., Fernandes, H. B. F., Kanazawa, S., & Dutton, E.
- Affiliations
- University of Arizona (US)
- University of Oulu (FI)
- Venue
- HOMO
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-05
- Volume
- 69
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 118-126
- ISSN
- 0018-442X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2808423892
- Cited by
- 9
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 5
- FWCI
- 1.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- orcid.org
- Locations
- HOMO (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- London School of Economics and Political Science Research Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) (submittedVersion)
- VUBIR (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Hemispheric Asymmetry in Neuroscience
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
- Keywords
- handedness, left-handedness, general intelligence, IQ, developmental stability, mutational burden, environmental stress, coding speed
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Child, Cognition, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Female, Humans, Intelligence, Intelligence Tests, Functional Laterality, Male, Middle Aged, Models, Psychological, Time Factors, Young Adult
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