Handedness and ‘open-earedness’: Strong right-handers are less likely to prefer less popular musical genres

Research shows that strong right-handedness is associated with decreased cognitive flexibility and decreased tendencies to update beliefs, arising from decreased interhemispheric interaction. In the current study, strong right-handedness was associated with decreased overall liking of less popular m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology of music 2013-01, Vol.41 (1), p.89-96
Main Author: Christman, Stephen D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Brain Hemisphere Functions
Cognitive development
Cognitive Psychology
Comparative Analysis
Edinburgh Handedness Inventory
Handedness
Hands
Higher Education
Individual Differences
Interaction
Lateral Dominance
Music
Musical Preferences
Popular Music
Scores
Undergraduate Students
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Summary:Research shows that strong right-handedness is associated with decreased cognitive flexibility and decreased tendencies to update beliefs, arising from decreased interhemispheric interaction. In the current study, strong right-handedness was associated with decreased overall liking of less popular musical genres (with the specific genres of bluegrass and reggae attaining significance) and marginally increased preference for more popular genres (with popularity being indexed by recording industry sales figures), providing further evidence for decreased cognitive flexibility in strong right-handers and suggesting that strength of handedness is an important factor in individual differences in musical preferences.
ISSN:0305-7356
1741-3087
DOI:10.1177/0305735611415751