Lateralisation of emotion predicts infant-holding bias in left-handed students,but not in left-handed mothers

It has been shown that most human beings prefer to hold an infant on the left side of the body. Several factors may be responsible for this behavioural bias. The present study tested the role of emotion-perception asymmetries (assessed with a dichotic listening task) in infant holding-side preferences. In order to neutralise the influence of handedness, only left-handers were recruited. A sample of students was compared to a sample of mothers, with a view to demonstrating that hemispheric specialisation influences holding-side biases in left-handers only in a basic holding relationship (population of non-parents tested on an imagination task). The results confirmed the relationship between holding-side preferences and auditory-field advantages solely for students. The role of the holder's characteristics in determining of holding biases is discussed.