Study finds that left-handed people earn less money

[Buster's Uncle]

Study finds that left-handed people earn less money
The Week
Meghan DeMaria  10:28am ET



iStock



A new study from Harvard found that left-handed people are more likely to make less money than right-handed people.

The findings are published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, and the research found that lefties, who make up 12 percent of the world's population, are more likely to work in manual labor jobs. The researchers looked at data from the U.S. and the U.K. and found that left-handed people make between 10 and 12 percent less money each year than right-handed people do.

"Differential brain wiring may affect the way people process language," study researcher and Harvard professor Josh Goodman told Fox News. "And that seems to have a little effect on math scores, reading scores, and earnings later in life." Humans' dominant hands indicate brain wiring, Goodman explained, though the differences are minor.

Goodman speculates that the differences in brain wiring could leave left-handed people more vulnerable to learning disabilities like dyslexia. Left-handed people "score slightly lower on standardized tests like math and reading," Goodman noted. And Vox reports that lefties are "slightly less likely than right-handers to graduate from college." Still, the findings are only from one study, and more research is needed to prove the level of disadvantage left-handers actually have.


http://theweek.com/article/index/273225/speedreads-study-finds-that-left-handed-people-earn-less-money