People who describe themselves as left-handed lean further left politically than right-handed adults, according to a study led by Professor Jérémie Bertrand.
On a 10-point scale ranging from extremely right-wing to radically left, self-identified left-handers rated themselves nearly half a point, or almost 0.5 points, further to the left than their right-handed counterparts.
Researchers highlighted that this political gap is even larger than the divide between genders. Women rated themselves 0.4 points more left-wing than men, despite the gender divide in politics being more pronounced than ever before.
However, this political connection vanished completely when researchers measured which hand participants actually used for daily tasks, such as writing, using scissors, brushing teeth, and throwing a ball.
Professor Jérémie Bertrand, lead author of the study at the IÉSEG School of Management, a business school in France, told the Daily Mail: "That matters because the obvious biological story predicts the exact opposite." He added: "What appears to matter is whether someone files themselves under the word. It is the identity, not the hand."
Study design and survey scope
To investigate factors influencing political leaning beyond traditional measures like income, age, occupation, and education, researchers surveyed 1,404 people across 18 Western countries. The sample included participants from France, Germany, the United States, Italy, Spain, and a higher proportion of respondents from the United Kingdom.
At first, participants were simply asked to state where they fell on the 10-point political scale and whether they were left-handed or right-handed, revealing an unexpected link between self-identifying as left-handed and holding left-wing political views.
The researchers had initially suspected that brain lateralisation might explain the connection. Brain functions in left-handed individuals are slightly less evenly distributed between hemispheres, resulting in greater communication between the two sides of the brain.
Previous cognitive studies have linked greater inter-hemispheric communication with increased cognitive flexibility and openness to new ideas, traits typically associated with left-wing political beliefs. Professor Bertrand noted: "If this ran through brain lateralisation, then the more thoroughly left-handed you are, the more the effect should show."
Famous left-handers and minority identity
Left-handedness is shared by a wide range of prominent public figures across politics, culture, and business. Famous left-handers include former US Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci, footballer Diego Maradona, musicians Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, Eminem, and Justin Bieber, actors Tom Cruise, Marilyn Monroe, Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis, Nicole Kidman, and Sarah Jessica Parker, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
When the research team observed actual hand dominance during physical tasks rather than relying on self-reported labels, the correlation between left-handedness and left-wing politics vanished entirely. This outcome indicated that the relationship is psychological or social rather than biological.
One theory proposed by the researchers is that people who call themselves left-handed feel drawn to the political left because of their experience belonging to a minority group. Left-handed people make up approximately 10 per cent of the global population and have historically faced social stigma.
Up until the 1970s, particularly in European countries such as France, many school children were forced to write with their right hand even if they were naturally left-handed. However, researchers found that older left-handers who were forced to write with their right hand did not lean further left than younger left-handers.
Linguistic connection and implicit egotism
The study authors also suggested that the shared linguistic root between the political left and left-handedness exerts a strong psychological influence. Psychologists have long documented implicit egotism, a subconscious tendency for individuals to be drawn to words, places, or professions that resemble themselves.
Earlier psychological research demonstrated that individuals named Lawrence are statistically more likely to become lawyers, while people named Louis are more likely to move to St. Louis, Missouri. The authors suggested a similar subconscious mechanism affects individuals who describe themselves as left-handed.
Co-author Dr Caroline Perrin, a postdoctoral researcher involved in the RE Wiring Project, told the Daily Mail: "If a shared word is doing the work, the association should be strongest where that vocabulary genuinely structures political debate. It is. It is significantly stronger in France, Spain, Italy and Portugal, where competition is explicitly organised along a left-right axis, than in the United Kingdom, where the divide usually goes by the names Labour and Conservative."
Implications for political choice
Earlier research has shown that left-handers are also driven by a strong desire to win. Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, one of the world's most successful executives and a prominent left-hander, also competes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts.
The study authors emphasized that their findings do not imply that all left-handed people vote for left-wing parties, nor that changing physical hand use would alter political views. Instead, the research highlights that individual political beliefs may be influenced by subconscious identity and language rather than purely rational choice.
