Are Left Handed People Smarter? What Studies Actually Found
Are left handed people smarter? No, not on average. The largest review of the research, a 2018 meta-analysis by Marietta Ntolka and Marietta Papadatou-Pastou, found essentially no meaningful difference in IQ between left-handers and right-handers. The "lefties are geniuses" idea is a fun myth, not a finding.
If what you really want to know is how smart you are, forget your dominant hand: IQ Tester shows your actual strengths and weak spots across four kinds of reasoning: Find my weak spots.
Are lefties smarter? Short answer
- Left-handers vs right-handers on IQ: no meaningful difference on average.
- Are right handed people smarter on average? Also no meaningful difference. Right-handers came out a tiny bit higher in the big review, but the gap was too small to matter in real life.
- Creativity: no strong evidence lefties are more creative either.
- Why the myth sticks: famous lefties, a little bit of "we're different," and viral posts.
About 1 in 10 people are left-handed. If you're one of them, you already know the struggle: smudged ink, spiral notebooks, scissors. Being secretly smarter would be a nice payback. Sadly, the data isn't having it.
What the biggest study found
The 2018 meta-analysis
Ntolka and Papadatou-Pastou pooled results from many studies, together covering more than 16,000 people, and published their review in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. Their conclusion:
- Left-handers and right-handers score about the same on IQ tests.
- Right-handers came out marginally higher overall, but the difference was negligible.
- There's no evidence that being left-handed makes you "naturally smarter."
So "are left handed people statistically smarter?" The statistical answer is no.
What about the "Oxford study"?
You might've seen headlines about an Oxford study on left-handers. In 2019, researchers from the University of Oxford published work in the journal Brain using UK Biobank data. They found genetic variants linked to left-handedness were also linked to differences in how language areas of the brain connect.
The researchers suggested this might relate to verbal skills. But the study didn't show left-handers have higher IQs. Headlines ran further than the science did, which, honestly, is how most "lefties are smarter" posts are born.
The creativity myth
"Are left handed people smarter or more creative?" is the follow-up question everyone asks. The idea goes like this: the right side of the brain controls the left hand, and the right brain is "the creative side," so lefties must be creative.
Here's what's wrong with that:
- The "left brain vs right brain" personality idea is mostly a myth. Both sides of your brain work together on nearly everything, including creative work.
- Studies on handedness and creativity are mixed. Some small studies found tiny effects on certain tasks, others found nothing. There's no strong, consistent evidence that lefties are more creative.
- Being left-handed doesn't choose your talents. Practice, interest and opportunity do.
Where the idea came from
If the evidence is so meh, why does everyone believe it?
It feels special
Being in the 10% makes lefties feel different, and "different" easily becomes "gifted" in our heads.
Famous lefties
Lists of famous left-handed geniuses go viral constantly. More on why that proves nothing below.
Old stigma flipped around
For a long time, left-handed kids were pushed to switch hands in school. The "lefties are smarter" story is partly a comeback to that history. Fair energy, just not accurate.
Confirmation bias
If you already believe lefties are smart, you'll notice every smart lefty and forget every average one.
Famous left-handers (and why that proves nothing)
People often list these as left-handed:
- Barack Obama, former US president
- Paul McCartney, The Beatles
- Oprah Winfrey, TV host and businesswoman
- Jimi Hendrix, guitarist
(Some celebrity handedness claims online are wrong or disputed, so take any big "genius lefties" list with a grain of salt.)
Here's the problem: you can make an equally long list of brilliant right-handers. Because right-handers are about 90% of people, there are way more of them among famous achievers too. A list of examples isn't data, it's a highlight reel.
| Claim | What the evidence says |
|---|---|
| Lefties have higher IQs | No meaningful difference on average |
| Right-handers are smarter | Tiny difference in one review, too small to matter |
| Lefties are more creative | Mixed, weak evidence |
| Lots of presidents are left-handed | A fun pattern, not proof of intelligence |
| Left-handers use the "right brain" more | Oversimplified; both sides work together |
What actually predicts reasoning skill
So if your dominant hand doesn't matter, what does? The factors that genuinely link to reasoning performance are less viral but more useful:
- Education and practice. More schooling is linked to higher IQ scores, and specific reasoning skills improve with practice.
- Sleep. Being short on sleep makes problem-solving harder.
- Focus. Checking your phone mid-problem wrecks your working memory.
- Knowing your weak spot. Most people are stronger in some kinds of reasoning (words, numbers, patterns, logic) than others.
That last one is where most people get stuck. You can't train a weakness you haven't identified, and people are famously bad at judging their own reasoning.
You can't tell from your handwriting, or your gut, whether you're weaker at number patterns or verbal logic. IQ Tester measures both, plus logic and pattern reasoning, in 20 untimed questions, then its guides give you a short daily drill for the weakest area. Find my weak spots
If you like busting "smart people" myths, see street smart vs book smart, or check whether your main game's reputation holds up in what game has the highest IQ players.
Find out how smart you are, whichever hand you write with
So, are left handed people smarter? No, but they're not less smart either. Your reasoning skills are what matter, and they can improve. Take IQ Tester's 20 untimed questions to see your score band and three of your four category strengths, then drill whatever's weakest.
FAQ
Are left handed people smarter on average?
No. A 2018 meta-analysis pooling many studies, covering more than 16,000 people, found no meaningful IQ difference between left-handed and right-handed people. Any gap was too small to matter.
Are right handed people smarter on average?
Not in any way that matters. The same big review found right-handers scored marginally higher overall, but the difference was negligible. Handedness tells you almost nothing about someone's intelligence.
What did the Oxford study on left handed people find?
A 2019 University of Oxford study found genetic variants linked to left-handedness were also linked to differences in brain connections in language areas. The researchers suggested a possible link to verbal skills, but the study did not show left-handers are smarter.
Are left handed people more creative?
There's no strong, consistent evidence for it. Some small studies found tiny effects and others found none. The "right brain equals creative" idea behind this claim is mostly a myth.
Is a left handed person smart?
A left-handed person is as likely to be smart as anyone else. Handedness doesn't decide intelligence. If you want to know your own reasoning strengths, a test that breaks down number, verbal, logic and pattern skills is far more useful than which hand you write with.