Handedness and season of birth: a gender-invariant relation.

In an earlier study, Dellatolas, Curt and Lellouch (1991) concluded that handedness is not related to season of birth. However, post-hoc exploration of their and other sets of data has shown that there is an apparent tendency for left-handedness to be more prevalent in the period March-July than in...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Martin, M, Jones, G
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 1999
_version_ 1797059768396808192
author Martin, M
Jones, G
author_facet Martin, M
Jones, G
author_sort Martin, M
collection OXFORD
description In an earlier study, Dellatolas, Curt and Lellouch (1991) concluded that handedness is not related to season of birth. However, post-hoc exploration of their and other sets of data has shown that there is an apparent tendency for left-handedness to be more prevalent in the period March-July than in the period August-February. The present work tested this seasonal hypothesis prospectively among university students. It was found that the proportion of all left-handed participants who were born in the period March-July was indeed significantly greater than the proportion of all right-handed participants who were born in the same period. Furthermore, the pattern of seasonal influence upon handedness did not vary significantly between females and males. The relation between handedness and season of birth may be linked to seasonal variation in other factors such as the incidence of infectious agents.
first_indexed 2024-03-06T20:08:56Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:29e3e2ed-aae7-438a-86b3-1a9cd4afcdda
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-06T20:08:56Z
publishDate 1999
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:29e3e2ed-aae7-438a-86b3-1a9cd4afcdda2022-03-26T12:21:52ZHandedness and season of birth: a gender-invariant relation.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:29e3e2ed-aae7-438a-86b3-1a9cd4afcddaEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford1999Martin, MJones, GIn an earlier study, Dellatolas, Curt and Lellouch (1991) concluded that handedness is not related to season of birth. However, post-hoc exploration of their and other sets of data has shown that there is an apparent tendency for left-handedness to be more prevalent in the period March-July than in the period August-February. The present work tested this seasonal hypothesis prospectively among university students. It was found that the proportion of all left-handed participants who were born in the period March-July was indeed significantly greater than the proportion of all right-handed participants who were born in the same period. Furthermore, the pattern of seasonal influence upon handedness did not vary significantly between females and males. The relation between handedness and season of birth may be linked to seasonal variation in other factors such as the incidence of infectious agents.
spellingShingle Martin, M
Jones, G
Handedness and season of birth: a gender-invariant relation.
title Handedness and season of birth: a gender-invariant relation.
title_full Handedness and season of birth: a gender-invariant relation.
title_fullStr Handedness and season of birth: a gender-invariant relation.
title_full_unstemmed Handedness and season of birth: a gender-invariant relation.
title_short Handedness and season of birth: a gender-invariant relation.
title_sort handedness and season of birth a gender invariant relation
work_keys_str_mv AT martinm handednessandseasonofbirthagenderinvariantrelation
AT jonesg handednessandseasonofbirthagenderinvariantrelation