Cultural and environmental pressure against left-hand preference in urban and semi-urban Malawi.
The study assessed views of teachers, pupils and their guardians on left-hand preference. Seventy-five percent of the responders indicated that the left hand should not be preferred for habitual activities and 87.6% of them indicated that left-handers should be forced to change the hand. Gender had significant effect on the view on left hand preference (df = 1, OR (odds ratio) = 0.465, p = 0.027). Giving a handshake when greeting a person, drawing and writing were the three top target activities against left-hand preference. An assumption that the left hand is less skilled and less powerful than the right one was the most common reason for negative view on left-hand use. Most of volunteers reported that parents and close relatives were the primary group of people who usually discourage left-hand use. Eighty point one percent of the responders indicated that people should stop preferring the left hand as soon as somebody noticed their left-handedness. The results indicated that cultural and environmental pressures might significantly affect visibility of left-handedness in urban Malawian populations.
Physiology Department, College of Medicine, University of Malawi, Malawi. yzverev@yahoo.com
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D008295:Malawi; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010379:Peer Group; D011287:Prejudice; D012737:Sex Factors; D012927:Social Control, Informal; D014505:Urban Population