ABSTRACT

Handedness has long been tied to personality, but detailed explanations for the association are lacking. Importantly for purposes of theory development, measures of approach and withdrawal associated with Big Five personality traits have also been traced back to activity in brain areas that relate to handedness. Specifically, increased right-hemisphere frontal activity appears to be linked to both withdrawal motivation and left/inconsistent-handedness, while increased left-hemisphere frontal activity is associated with approach motivation and right/consistent-handedness. Cerebral motivational asymmetries therefore present one plausible mechanism by which approach and withdrawal motivation could mediate the relationship between handedness and personality. We tested this possibility in a large online study (N = 499) in which participants completed multiple survey measures. Results indicated that approach/withdrawal motivation partially accounts for relationships between handedness and personality.

摘要

惯用手长期以来一直与性格联系在一起，但缺乏对这种关联的详细解释。重要的是，出于理论发展的目的，与大五人格特征相关的接近和退缩的测量也可以追溯到与惯用手相关的大脑区域的活动。具体来说，增加的右脑额叶活动似乎与退缩动机和左/不一致的习惯有关，而增加的左半球正面活动与接近动机和右/一致的习惯有关。因此，大脑动机不对称提供了一种似是而非的机制，通过该机制，接近和退出动机可以调节左右手习惯和人格之间的关系。我们在一项大型在线研究中测试了这种可能性（N = 499），其中参与者完成了多项调查措施。结果表明，接近/退出动机部分解释了惯用手和个性之间的关系。