Left-Handers' Sensitivity to Hand Usage: Theoretical Note on Saliency in the Self-Concept

Abstract

Etaugh and Brausam (1978) reported that left-handers were more sensitive than right-handers to hand usage by figures in a picture. Their interpretation emphasizes particular social experiences of left-handers. We propose a theoretically broader explanation—that there are general tendencies to characterize the self in terms of characteristics that are distinctive relative to others and to note in others those qualities salient in the self-concept.