ABSTRACT

There is increasing evidence that inter-individual interaction among conspecifics can cause population-level lateralization. Male–female and mother–infant dyads of several non-human species show lateralised position preferences, but such preferences have rarely been examined in humans. We observed 430 male–female human pairs and found a significant bias for males to walk on the right side of the pair. A survey measured side preferences in 93 left-handed and 92 right-handed women, and 96 left-handed and 99 right-handed men. When walking, and when sitting on a bench, males showed a significant side preference determined by their handedness, with left-handed men preferring to be on their partner’s left side and right-handed men preferring to be on their partner’s right side. Women did not show significant side preferences. When men are with their partner they show a preference for the side that facilitates the use of their dominant hand. We discuss possible reasons for the side preference, including males prefering to occupy the optimal “fight ready” side, and the influence of sex and handedness on the strength and direction of emotion lateralization.

摘要

越来越多的证据表明，同种个体之间的个体间相互作用会导致种群水平的偏侧化。几种非人类物种的男性-女性和母-婴对显示出偏侧位置偏好，但这种偏好很少在人类中得到检验。我们观察了 430 对男女人类，发现男性明显偏向于走在配对的右侧。一项调查测量了 93 名左撇子女性和 92 名右撇子女性以及 96 名左撇子男性和 99 名右撇子男性的侧边偏好。走路和坐在长凳上时，男性表现出明显的侧向偏好，这取决于他们的惯用手习惯，左撇子男性更喜欢在伴侣的左侧，而右撇子男性更喜欢在伴侣的右侧。女性没有表现出明显的偏爱。当男人和他们的伴侣在一起时，他们会表现出对便于使用惯用手的一侧的偏好。我们讨论了侧面偏好的可能原因，包括男性更喜欢占据最佳的“战斗准备”侧面，以及性别和用手习惯对情绪偏侧化强度和方向的影响。