The hand we prefer to use to write a letter, cut a steak, or throw a baseball is something we rarely think about consciously — it just feels natural. Handedness represents a prominent manifestation of lateralized motor behavior (preferred hand associated with greater activity in contralateral brain hemisphere).
However, because other cognitive functions, like emotional processing, are also lateralized, handedness can be indicative of other behavioral traits as it represents dominance or more frequent use of one hemisphere over the other. In many cases the strength of hand preference (rather than left vs. right bias) seems to be important. For example, people with weak hand preference (ambilateral) are more likely to suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, and psychosis than those with strong hand preferences.
Lateralized motor behavior and relationships between limb preference and emotional functioning are not unique to humans, and have also been observed in chimpanzees, marmosets, chicks, and dogs.
In an article from the Journal of Comparative Psychology, McDowell and colleagues (2016) tested the relationship between lateralized motor behavior and temperament in domestic cats (felis silvestris).
To assess paw preference, treats were placed in a two-level feeding maze tower, and the experimenter recorded which paw cats used to reach into the food maze in an attempt to retrieve the treat. Each cat was tested until 50 attempts were made.
Temperament was assessed using the Feline Temperament Profile (FTP), in which the number of acceptable (vs. questionable) responses during a series of interactions with an unfamiliar person are recorded; high FTP scores indicate better temperament. Finally, owners rated their cats on 12 traits using a 5-point scale.
There was a significant relationship between temperament profile and paw preference, such that cats classified as ambilateral had lower FTP scores than cats classified as either right- or left-pawed. Furthermore, ambilateral cats were perceived by their owners as significantly less affectionate, obedient and friendly, and more aggressive, than cats that showed a clear paw preference.
There were generally no significant differences between right- and left-pawed, cats, with the exception that right-pawed cats were perceived by their owners as being significantly more playful than left-pawed or ambilateral cats.
Finally, there was a significant positive correlation between paw preference and FTP scores, such that cats with a stronger paw preference had higher scores. Stronger paw preferences were also positively correlated with owners' perception of confidence, affection, and friendliness, and negatively correlated with aggression.
These results suggest a relationship between motor laterality and temperament in domestic cats, with the strength of laterality being more important than the direction of the lateral bias. However, the relationships observed here may be limited by the use of pet cats, which may represent a fairly homogeneous sample — presumably cats adopted as pets have already been selected for their good temperament.
Citation
- McDowell, L. J., Wells, D. L., Hepper, P. G., & Dempster, M. (2016). Lateral bias and temperament in the domestic cat (Felis silvestris). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 130(4), 313–320. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/com0000030
Note: This article is in the Basic / Experimental Psychology topic area. View more articles in the Basic / Experimental Psychology topic area.