20 Unique Left Handedness Statistics

It’s been said that left handed people are the only ones who are in their right mind. Lefties are a coveted treasure as a pitcher and many consider them to be creative people as well. There’s even evidence that shows left handedness is an indicator of someone’s intelligence.

Although 15% of the human population is left handed, 20% of those who qualify to join MENSA are left handed.

Left Handedness

Being left handed might have some advantages, but it can sometimes be a bit of a curse as well. You’ve got to purchase special guitars sometimes, have different kinds of golf clubs, and these “specialty” products can sometimes come with a higher price. Overall, however, these left handedness statistics are pretty incredible and shine some light on those who really are in their right mind.

• Men are twice as likely as women to be left handed and for those guys who graduate from college, they are 26% richer on average than their right handed counterparts.
• Left handedness carries with it a 3x greater risk of becoming an alcoholic than being right handed.
• Women who give birth later in life are more likely to have children who are left handed and this chance is increased further if one or both parents are also left handed.
• Even though someone is left handed, there is a good chance they still use right handed tools. 50% of lefties, for example, use a right handed mouse. 74% of lefties use a dinner knife in their right hand.
• August 13th is International Left  Handers Day.
• 5 to 10% of the population is left hand dominant.

There is some evidence that being left handed is a genetic trait, although it can also be completely random. Two parents who are right handed, for example, have a 2% chance of having a child that will be left handed. For two parents that are left handed, however, there is a 50% chance that they’ll also have a child that is left handed. What is also interesting is that the male dominance in left handedness also tends to go through other species as well, as studies done on cats have found that male cats are more likely to be left pawed than right pawed.

Is It Really Good To Be A Lefty?

• Research shows that left handedness makes a person better at handling large amounts of stimuli.
• Research also shows that lefties may have an average lifespan that is up to 9 years fewer than that of righties.
• 4 out of 5 of the original designers of the Mac computer were left-handed.
• 3 out of the last 5 Presidents of the United States were also left handed.
• The data suggests that left handedness can cause delays in puberty that can be up to 5 months later in development than right handed counterparts.
• People who are prone to developing a psychosis have a 20% chance of being left handed, or the exact same chance of being a genius. 40% of schizophrenia patients were found to be left handed.

Because lefties live in a world that is dominated by righties, it only makes sense to work on some ambidextrous skills. Not only could this be potentially cheaper, but it also allows for people to fit in with others when they’re the only lefty around. The trouble, however, is that it also seems this need to adapt also creates mental health issues, whether it is from stress or just the natural development of the lefty mind. With such a high percentage of mental disorders affecting lefties more so than righties, it is a statistic that cannot be ignored. Although mood disorders can affect righties and lefties equally, it is the severe mental illnesses that create problems and that’s an ongoing problem that may be part of the reason why lefties are more likely to abuse alcohol.

Does Being Left Handed Really Affect Your Health?

• 30% of lefties don’t actually have a dominant hemisphere of the brain, which is why researchers believe that they are at a higher risk of developing mental disorders.
• Another recent study that involved over 1.4 million participants found that left handedness was directly associated with a lower risk of ulcers and arthritis.
• Research conducted in 2012 found that lefties have a better chance to hear rapidly changing sounds compared to their right handed counterparts. Most importantly, however, was the fact that all people could hear words better when holding items in their left hand over their right hand.
• Left handedness also lends to a higher level of creativity within the demographic. Because lefties are better at divergent thinking, they are able to find more possible solutions and this leads to more creativity in all industries.
• Being left handed also means making less overall money, which can also affect health and other aspects of life. Lefties make 10% less than righties on average.
• People who are left handed are also more likely to be affected by fear in a negative way when compared to their right handed counterparts.
• Left handedness also tends to create more anger that lasts longer when compared to righties, which is also reflective of a potential imbalance between the two hemispheres of the brain. Lefties also struggle more than righties when it comes to processing difficult emotions.
• Nails grow faster on the left handed for left hand dominant individuals.

Lefties might be a treasured commodity in some industries and Americans might vote more often for lefties than righties, but the fact remains that there is often more bad than good from a health perspective that comes from a dominant left hand. It isn’t just in the emotions where imbalance can occur either. Left handedness also tends to make people become more embarrassed and self-conscious about themselves, which can further restrict how many opportunities they can take advantage of over the course of a lifetime. Now imagine a left handed child being scolded and the embarrassment and shyness that results and it is easy to see why lefties are more likely than righties to hesitate at a critical decision.