science

Additional meta-analysis confirmed that left-handers are overrepresented among artists and musicians – but not architects, as is often claimed. Expanding their investigation beyond those fields, the team re-analyzed data from a large study drawing upon U.S. government surveys with information on occupations and handedness. The data included nearly 12,000 individuals in more than 770 professions, which were ranked by the creativity each required. By this measure combining “originality” and “inductive reasoning,” physicists and mathematicians ranked alongside fine artists as the most creative jobs. When considering the full range of professions, the researchers found, left-handers were underrepresented in those that required the most creativity.