Left-handers are reputed to be shorter than right-handers. However, previous research has confounded handedness direction (left- versus right-handedness) with handedness strength (consistency with which one hand is chosen across a variety of tasks; consistent- versus inconsistent-handedness). Here, we support a relationship between handedness strength, but not direction, and stature, with increasing inconsistent-handedness associated with increasing self-reported height

Brunyé, Tad T.

Frank, Karly

McGraw, Sean E.

Propper, Ruth E.

English

Montclair State University Digital Commons

Montclair State UniversityMontclair State University Digital CommonsDepartment of Psychology Faculty Scholarship andCreative Works Department of PsychologyFall 10-2013Strength, But Not Direction, of Handedness IsRelated to HeightRuth E. PropperMontclair State University, propperr@montclair.eduTad T. BrunyéUS Army Natick Soldier Research, tbruny01@tufts.eduKarly FrankMontclair State UniversitySean E. McGrawMontclair State UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/psychology-facpubsPart of the Applied Behavior Analysis Commons, Comparative Psychology Commons,Developmental Psychology Commons, Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons, OtherPsychology Commons, Psychology of Movement Commons, and the Theory and PhilosophyCommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Psychology at Montclair State University Digital Commons. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works by an authorized administrator of Montclair StateUniversity Digital Commons. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@montclair.edu.MSU Digital Commons CitationPropper, Ruth E.; Brunyé, Tad T.; Frank, Karly; and McGraw, Sean E., "Strength, But Not Direction, of Handedness Is Related toHeight" (2013). Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 10.https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/psychology-facpubs/10Published CitationPropper, Ruth E., Tad T. Brunye, Karly Hrank, and Sean E. McGraw. "Strength, But Not Direction, of Handedness Is Related toHeight." Open Journal of Medical Psychology 2, no. 04 (2013): 166.Open Journal of Medical Psychology, 2013, 2, 166-167 http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojmp.2013.24025 Published Online October 2013 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojmp) Strength, But Not Direction, of Handedness  Is Related to Height Ruth E. Propper1*, Tad T. Brunye2,3, Karly Hrank1, Sean E. McGraw1  1Psychology Department, Montclair State University, Montclair, USA 2Department of Psychology, Tufts University, Medford, USA 3US Army NSRDEC, Cognitive Science, Natick, USA Email: *propperr@mail.montclair.edu  Received July 3, 2013; revised August 3, 2013; accepted August 10, 2013  Copyright © 2013 Ruth E. Propper et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Left-handers are reputed to be shorter than right-handers. However, previous research has confounded handedness dire- ction (left- versus right-handedness) with handedness strength (consistency with which one hand is chosen across a va- riety of tasks; consistent- versus inconsistent-handedness). Here, we support a relationship between handedness strength, but not direction, and stature, with increasing inconsistent-handedness associated with increasing self-reported height.  Keywords: Handedness; Stature; Prenatal Testosterone 1. Introduction Left-handers are reputed to be shorter than right-handers [1-4]. However, previous work has assessed handedness via archival records of sports figures, using one activity (e.g. batting) to classify handedness, thereby confound-ing handedness direction (left- versus right-handedness) with handedness strength (consistency with which one hand is chosen across a variety of tasks; consistent- ver-sus inconsistent-handedness). Handedness direction and strength both contribute to between-subject variation in cognitive/physiological measures [5], and are likely to contribute to individual differences in handedness effects on stature as well, presumably via prenatal androgen ex-posure variation. In the only study [6] directly querying participants’ handedness, increasing consistent-left and consistent-right-handedness were both associated with decreased height. However, in that study, handedness was dichotomized, which does not allow for assessment of overall direction versus strength of handedness and height relationships. Furthermore, it is unclear how  height was assessed. Here, in this Short Report, we sup-port a relationship between handedness strength, but not direction, and stature. 2. Methods As part of a larger protocol, participants (N = 141) com-pleted written consent (the study was approved via the MSU Institutional Review Board and the Army Human Research Protection Office), self-reported their height, and filled out the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (EHI). The EHI consists of 10 activities that participants rate as performing with the right or left hand “always”, “usu-ally”, or having no hand preference. Graduated scoring results in a range from −100 (perfectly consistent-left- handedness) to +100 (perfectly consistent-right-handed- ness). 3. Results Handedness Direction: Unpaired t-test comparing height (cm) between left- (n = 12; EHI score equal/below 0) and right- (n = 129; EHI score above 0) handers was non- significant (p > 0.20). Height also did not correlate with EHI overall or as a function of gender (p > 0.30). See Figure 1(a). Handedness Strength: Height negatively correlated with absolute value of EHI (|EHI|), r(139) = −0.22, p < 0.01, a measure that collapses across handedness direc-tion, while maintaining handedness strength. See Figure 1(b). This effect was evident in men (n = 35, r = −0.41, p = 0.01), but not women (n = 106; p > 0.90). Handedness Direction and Strength: Handedness was trichotomized into consistent-left-(CLH), right-(CRH), and inconsistent-handed (ICH) groups via the median of the |EHI| score (|80|) [see 5]. Scores +80 and above were *Corresponding author. Copyright © 2013 SciRes.                                                                                OJMP R. E. PROPPER  ET  AL. 167CRH (n = 71), scores −80 and below were CLH (n = 7), and scores +75 to −75 were ICH (n = 63); A one-way Analysis of Variance revealed an effect (f(2,138) = 3.0, p = 0.05); ICH (x = 168.41, sd = 11.47) were taller (by 3.72 cm) than CRH (x = 164.69, sd = 8.66; Fisher’s PLSD, p < 0.05), and marginally (Fisher’s PLSD p = 0.10) taller (by 6.58 cm) than CLH (x = 161.83, sd = 9.92). See Figure 2. 4. Discussion Handedness strength (measured via the absolute value of   CRHCLHICH140 Height (cm) 125EHI 150 160 170 180 190 200 75 25 -25 -75 -125  (a) CRHCLHICH0 140 Height (cm) 20 40 60 80 100 |EHI|150 160 170 180 190 200  (b) Figure 1. (a) Height is not correlated with direction of handedness (EHI), p > 0.20. (b) Height is negatively corre-lated with strength of handedness (|EHI|), p < 0.01.  P < 0.05 P < 1.0 CRH CLH ICH 140 145 150 155 160 165 170 175 Height (cm)  Figure 2. Height as a function of handedness group. shared mediation by in utero hormonal factors (e.g. tes-tosterone), a suggestion supported by the fact that men, not women, demonstrated this relationship. Left- and right-handers did not differ from each other, nor did con-sistent-right- and consistent-left-handers. Inconsistent- handers however were taller than both consistently- handed groups, and significantly so relative to consistent- right-handers. Limitations of the present finding are based primarily on the limited number of participants, the need for additional testing of men and women, and the reliance on self-reported height. Nevertheless, the results call into question previously analyzed archival data based on single measures of handedness. The results here fur-ther support that non-right-handedness is not a homoge-nous trait that can be determined by performance on one activity [5]. Given that inconsistent-handers are taller than both consistent-left- and consistent-right-handers, data sets that incorporate strength of hand preference may more accurately characterize the relationship be-tween height and hand preference. REFERENCES [1] E. L. Abel and M. L. Kruger, “Lefties Are Still a Little Shorter,” Perceptual and Motor Skills, Vol. 104, No. 2, 2007, pp. 405-406.  http://dx.doi.org/10.2466/pms.104.2.405-406 [2] S. Coren, “Southpaws—Somewhat Scrawnier,” American Medical Association, Vol. 262, No. 19, 1989, pp. 2682- 2683. [3] R. Fudin, L. Renninger and J. Hirshon, “Analysis of Data from Reichler’s (1979) the Baseball Encyclopedia: Right- Handed Pitchers are Taller and Heavier than Left-Handed Pitchers,” Perceptual and Motor Skills, Vol. 78, No. 3, 1994, pp. 1043-1048.  http://dx.doi.org/10.2466/pms.1994.78.3.1043 [4] R. Pollard, “A Difference in Heights and Weights be- tween Right-Handed and Left-Handed Bowlers at Cri- cket,” Perceptual and Motor Skills, Vol. 81, No. 2, 1995, pp. 601-602. http://dx.doi.org/10.2466/pms.1995.81.2.601 [5] E. Prichard, R. E. Propper and S. D. Christman, “Degree of Handedness, But Not Direction, Is a Systematic Pre- dictor of Cognitive Performance,” Frontiers in Cognitive Psychology, Vol. 4, 2013, pp. 1-6. [6] U. Tan, “The Relation of Body Height to Handedness in Male and Female Right- and Left-Handed Human Sub-jects,” International Journal of Neuroscience, Vol. 63, No. 3-4, 1992, pp. 217-220.  http://dx.doi.org/10.2466/pms.1995.81.2.601   Copyright © 2013 SciRes.                                                                                OJMP 

Strength, But Not Direction, of Handedness Is Related to Height

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Strength, But Not Direction, of Handedness Is Related to Height

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