title: Head-turning asymmetries during kissing and their association with lateral preference.
abstract: A head-turning bias to the right side is one of the earliest functional asymmetries in human development and is already present during the final weeks of gestation. To test whether head-turning preference is related to other lateral preferences in adults, kissing behaviour of participants towards a symmetrical doll was observed to assess their spontaneous head-turning preference. Additionally, participants' individual handedness, footedness, and eye preference were determined using questionnaires. A significant difference in handedness and footedness, but not eye preference, was found between left- and right-kissers, with right-kissers showing a stronger right-sided bias than left-kissers. These results support the assumption that the head-turning bias in humans may be able to induce or enhance other asymmetries of perception and action.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Kognitive Neurowissenschaft, Fakultät für Psychologie, Ruhr-Universitat Bochum, Germany. sebastian.ocklenburg@rub.de
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ocklenburg
authors.forename: Onur
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Güntürkün
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003380:Courtship; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D019416:Head Movements; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D009949:Orientation; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D055815:Young Adult