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Review
. 2025 Dec;32(6):2472-2506.
doi: 10.3758/s13423-025-02717-2. Epub 2025 Jun 27.

Handedness and creativity: Facts and fictions

Owen Morgan  1 , Siyi Zhao  2 , Daniel Casasanto  3
Affiliations
Review

Handedness and creativity: Facts and fictions

Owen Morgan et al. Psychon Bull Rev. 2025 Dec.

Abstract

Are left-handers more creative than right-handers? In both popular belief and scientific literature, left-handedness is linked with higher creativity. In a qualitative review supported by meta-analyses, here we evaluated whether left- or mixed-handers are more creative than right-handers, as measured by tests of divergent thinking, and evaluated whether left- or mixed-handers are overrepresented in creative professions. We argue that plausible mechanisms for a link between creativity and handedness can be found within influential theories of the neural basis of creativity. However, we found no evidence that left- or mixed-handers are more creative than right-handers; on the contrary, right-handers scored statistically higher on one standard test of divergent thinking (the Alternate Uses Test). Additionally, although left- and mixed-handers may be overrepresented in Art and Music, they are underrepresented in creative professions, in general. Both right and left-handers tend to believe that left-handers are more creative, but this belief is not supported by the available empirical evidence.

Keywords: Creativity; Divergent thinking; Handedness; Meta-analysis; Review.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval: Not applicable. Consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Conflicts of interest: The authors have no relevant competing interests to disclose.

References

References marked with an asterisk (“*”) indicate studies included in the meta-analysis of handedness and divergent thinking. References marked with a double asterisk (“**”) indicate studies included in the meta-analysis of handedness and creative professions.
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