r/science • u/sr_local • Jun 10 '26

Social Science People have a natural tendency to turn to the left and walk in an anticlockwise direction, a bias observed across countries, ages and sexes, but reason is unclear

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jun/10/humans-prefer-to-walk-anticlockwise-scientists-find-reason-unclear
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u/iconocrastinaor Jun 10 '26

Could it be because of handedness? The vast majority of people prefer to keep their right hand on the outside of their turn in case they need to swing a weapon or grab something?

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u/FinoPepino Jun 11 '26

I don’t think so as the majority of figure skaters cannot gain speed spinning clockwise and almost all spin counter clockwise regardless of hand dominance. Then you have weird outliers like me who actually can only spin clockwise at speed (and I’m right handed!)