Don’t you find left-handed people amusing? They amuse us with their rarity and to be honest they amuse us with their abnormality. In this world of mostly right-handed people, it’s very difficult and extremely rare to find left-handed people. No wonder they fall under only 10% of the population.
It’s still normal in many countries to force children to use their right hand or even called “proper hand”. Actually, the word right means correct not only in the English language but in many other languages.
While left-handedness is always considered a bad omen. Old stigmas even claim left-handedness as a sign of witches. It is said that the devil himself was a lefty. Actually, the life of a left-handed person is not easy. No parents should force their children to switch their hands because what makes a person left-handed is still a matter of wonder to many scientists. The conventional hemisphere theory doesn’t have much effect on handedness as the right hemisphere controls movement on the left side of the body, while the left hemisphere controls movement on the right side of the body.
Few possibilities that make a person left-handed.
Position in the womb
Some researchers believe that the position and the environment of the fetus in the womb play a role in determining the handedness of a child. Hormones that a fetus faces. And the position they sit inside a womb could be one of the factors.
Spinal cord and genes
Research by Sebastian Ocklenburg, Judith Schmitz, and Onur Gunturkun from Ruhr University Bochum from the Netherlands and South Africa found that gene activity in the spinal cord was asymmetrical in the womb. Likewise, this could be what causes a person to be left- or right-handed.
Handedness of parents
This hypothesis says parents’ handedness determines the child’s handedness. If the father is left-handed then the chances are 17% of the child being left-handed. Similarly, if the mother is left-handed then the chances are 22%. In case parents being both right-handed, the chances are only 10%. Finally, both parents being left-handed, the chances are 25%.
Modeling
No child learns behavior on their own. They mimic the actions that they see around them. Similarly, children choose their right or left hand by copying parents or other caretakers. This hypothesis doesn’t apply to all. As we have seen both right-handed parents having left-handed children. However, this hypothesis may match some situations.
Sex
Interestingly, left-handedness is more common in males than in females. Hence researchers think that the male hormone testosterone has an influence on right and left-handedness.
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