Handedness and schizotypy in a Japanese sample: an association masked by cultural effects on hand usage

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Gregory, Alice M.; Claridge, Gordon; Clark, Ken and Taylor, Paul D.. 2003. Handedness and schizotypy in a Japanese sample: an association masked by cultural effects on hand usage. Schizophrenia Research, 65, pp. 139-145. ISSN 0920-9964 [Article]

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Previous research has shown a robust association between schizotypy and mixed/ambiguous-handedness, but little is known about the universality of this relationship outside Western cultures. The present paper examines this issue in a sample of 413 Japanese students administered (in Japan) the Annett handedness questionnaire and a schizotypy scale (STA). Conventional analyses of current hand preference, using several indices derived from the Annett scale, mostly failed to replicate previous findings. However, there was a significant tendency for greater use of either hand in highly schizotypal males. Furthermore, a significant association between schizotypy and non-right-handedness was found—again only in males—after correcting for the effects of early switching of hand usage, presumed to be due to cultural pressure against left-handedness in Japanese society. These results were found to be highly convergent with findings previously reported for clinical schizophrenia.

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Article

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https://doi.org/10.1016/S0920-9964(03)00055-0