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Andy63 |
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saintly |
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thank you for you efforts..this solves a situation involving a question asked by RJ Emery at life_at_work@abuzz.com
thanks again..aw |
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[07-30-2000] Andy63 : recently robin quivers (as part of her morning newscast) reported of a study that said most gay people are left handed..did anyone hear that report?..or did anyone catch the source of the study..aw
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[07-31-2000] saintly : The short answer:
The study you are probably referring to is called 'Sexual Orientation and Handedness in Men and Women: A Meta-Analysis". The authors are Martin L. Lalumihre, Ray Blanchard, and Kenneth J. Zucker. It was conducted at the 'Centre for Addiction and Mental Health' (an affiliate of the University of Toronto). It was published in the July issue of 'Psychological Bulletin'
The numbers:
The researchers looked at data collected from 20 other studies about 6,987 homosexual (6,182 men and 805 women) and 16,423 heterosexual (14,808 men and 1,615 women) participants. Homosexual participants had 39% greater odds of being non-right-handed (either left-handed or ambidextrous/using both hands).
The study:
Reuters news services interviewed Dr. Ray Blanchard about his findings. He was quick to point out that the study does not show that being left-handed gives you a higher chance of being gay, or that one causes the other. Rather he suggests that the study shows that some environmental or genetic factors that contribute to one may also contribute to the other. Some key points of interest are differences in brain structure, prenatal exposure to sex hormones, reactions between the mothers immune system and the fetus, and environmental factors during the child's developmental stages.
It was published in the July 2000 issue of 'Psychological Bulletin', a journal published by the American Psychological Association. If you want to refer to or cite the study, it is:
Psychological Bulletin, 2000, Vol. 126, No. 4, pages 575-592
About the researchers:
Dr. Ray Blanchard and Dr. Kenneth Zucker are Associate Professors of the University of Toronto. Dr. Martin Lalumiere is an Assistant Professor of the same university. They are all supervisors in the Department of Psychology at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry (also an affiliate of the University of Toronto).
Links:
http://www.apa.org/journals/bul/700ab.html#8
The abstract of the study.
http://chl.ca/Health0007/06_hands.html
A good summary of the study by Marlene Habib, published July 6, 2000 in the 'Canadian Press'
http://arabia.com/article/0,1690,Life|24655,00.html
Reuters News Service summary - note: Gets some details wrong like the name of the journal.
Hope that helps.
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