ERIC Number: EJ737471
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Apr
Pages: 9
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-2626
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Cultural and Environmental Pressure against Left-Hand Preference in Urban and Semi-Urban Malawi
Zverev, Y. P.
Brain and Cognition, v60 n3 p295-303 Apr 2006
The study assessed views of teachers, pupils and their guardians on left-hand preference. Seventy-five percent of the responders indicated that the left hand should not be preferred for habitual activities and 87.6% of them indicated that left-handers should be forced to change the hand. Gender had significant effect on the view on left hand preference (df = 1, OR (odds ratio)=0.465, p = 0.027). Giving a handshake when greeting a person, drawing and writing were the three top target activities against left-hand preference. An assumption that the left hand is less skilled and less powerful than the right one was the most common reason for negative view on left-hand use. Most of volunteers reported that parents and close relatives were the primary group of people who usually discourage left-hand use. Eighty point one percent of the responders indicated that people should stop preferring the left hand as soon as somebody noticed their left-handedness. The results indicated that cultural and environmental pressures might significantly affect visibility of left-handedness in urban Malawian populations.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Handedness, Student Attitudes, Parent Attitudes, Teacher Attitudes, Gender Differences, Cultural Influences, Brain Hemisphere Functions
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Students; Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Malawi
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A