Right-hemisphere lateralisation evidenced from the chimeric face task predicts self-reported social competencies

Observing and understanding faces is a critical component of social interactions. The neural correlates of face processing have been well established to be preferentially lateralised to the right hemisphere, though the functional role of this brain asymmetry has received less attention. Here we investigated the hypothesis that a left-visual-field (right-hemisphere) bias in face perception would be associated with a broader set of self-reported social competencies. Participants (n = 348) completed a chimeric face task, requiring judgements of which side of chimeric face stimuli were more emotional, a face emotion recognition task, and the Multidimensional Social Competence Scale in an online experiment. Overall social competencies were predicted by degree of chimeric face task bias to the right hemisphere (determined as the laterality quotient, LQ). Structural Equation Model analyses revealed that social inferencing and non-verbal sending skills were best predicted by LQ. In all analyses the predictive role of LQ was independent of face emotion recognition. Social cognition has previously been linked to the right hemisphere, but we report a novel relationship between lateralisation of face processing, and aspects of social competencies that encompass both understanding and the display of social cues.