In praise of ambidexterity: How a continuum of handedness predicts social adjustment

This paper estimates the relationship between handedness and social adjustment in children. In addition to binary measures of hand preference, we also use a continuous measure of relative hand skill. Outcomes at ages 7, 11 and 16 are studied. The data used is the British 1958 Birth. Using a partially linear semi-parametric regression estimator, it is shown that non-right-handedness (as hand preference) is associated with poorer social adjustment but this effect weakens as individuals age into their teens. The continuous measure of hand skill has a non-monotonic effect on social adjustment with poorer social adjustment in the tails of the continuum. The results are consistent with a growing body of evidence which shows that it is the consistency or degree of laterality (rather than direction) that is important for many outcomes.