doiSerbia

Historical aspects of left-handedness

Milenković Sanja (University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Hygiene and Medical Ecology, Belgrade, Serbia)
Belojević Goran (University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Hygiene and Medical Ecology, Belgrade, Serbia)
Paunović Katarina (University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Hygiene and Medical Ecology, Belgrade, Serbia)
Davidović Dragana (University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Hygiene and Medical Ecology, Belgrade, Serbia)

Lateralization is one of the central questions in neurology, neuropsychology, and other related scientific disciplines. There has been very little change in the proportion of left-handers since the Upper Paleolithic Age about 10,000 years ago and it is estimated to be around 10%. As the history of human thinking has developed from superstition to science, the explanation of left-handedness transformed from “devil’s work” to neurological specificity. This paper presents this very interesting historical change by analyzing the data on left-handedness and the attitudes towards it in human societies from prehistory to today. Even in a relatively open-minded society, parents and teachers may encourage a left-handed child to switch to right-handedness to make their lives easier in a largely right-handed world. On the other hand, left-handedness is increasingly seen as a special gift, and left-handed people have started to favor themselves as more competent in relation to the right-handed people.

Keywords: laterality, handedness, history

Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 41020, Grant no. 175078 and Grant no. 175067