Left-handedness and time pressure in elite interactive ball games | Zendy

Florian Loffing | Zendy

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Left-handedness and time pressure in elite interactive ball games

Author(s) -

Florian Loffing

Publication year - 2017

Publication title -

biology letters

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 1.596

H-Index - 110

eISSN - 1744-957X

pISSN - 1744-9561

DOI - 10.1098/rsbl.2017.0446

Subject(s) - cricket , contest , biology , left handed , cognitive psychology , frequency dependent selection , left and right , selection (genetic algorithm) , computer science , psychology , artificial intelligence , zoology , physics , optics , political science , law , structural engineering , engineering

According to the fighting hypothesis, frequency-dependent selection gives relatively rarer left-handers a competitive edge in duel-like contests and is suggested as one mechanism that ensured the stable maintenance of handedness polymorphism in humans. Overrepresentation of left-handers exclusively in interactive sports seems to support the hypothesis. Here, by referring to data on interactive ball sports, I propose that a left-hander's advantage is linked to the sports' underlying time pressure. The prevalence of left-handers listed in elite rankings increased from low (8.7%) to high (30.39%) time pressure sports and a distinct left-hander overrepresentation was only found in the latter (i.e. baseball, cricket and table tennis). This indicates that relative rarity and the interactive nature of a contest are not sufficient per se to evoke a left-hander advantage. Refining the fighting hypothesis is suggested to facilitate prediction and experimental verification of when and why negative frequency-dependent selection may benefit left-handedness.

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