Handedness and interpersonal preferences: short-term changes in motor fluency may influence facial attractiveness

Abstract

People with different physical characteristics interact with the world differently and, therefore, form different mental representations corresponding to their physical characteristics. Since left-handers and right-handers interact with the world differently, they form different preferences and emotional valence patterns. The present study investigated the relationship between handedness and ratings of facial attractiveness, and whether this relationship is influenced by short-term changes in motor fluency. Participants tended to rate faces presented on the same side as their dominant hand as more attractive than faces presented on the side of their non-dominant hand; this relationship may be modified by transiently altering relative levels of motor fluency between a person’s dominant and non-dominant hand.