Most people cradle babies in their left arm. According to studies, the preference to stay left is evident across cultures and ethnic groups and across centuries. A scientist now shows that this is because most people are right-handed.
Audrey van der Meer from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim examined existing data and meta-analyses on this topic for the study, which was published in the journal Infanty.
One theory says that a baby is mainly carried on the left arm, because then he can hear the heartbeat better: In almost all people, the heart is on the left side.
Another theory is related to sensory perception: the left ear and eye are used to receive information about the emotional state of the baby – signals from the left are sent to the right hemisphere of the brain, which is specialized in interpreting emotions and faces.
According to Van der Meer, there is probably a much simpler reason: you want to have your ‘better’ arm free so you can continue to use it – and ‘9 out of 10 people in the world are right-handed’.
There are many photos of Prince William carrying one of his children as a baby with his right arm. “He is left-handed,” says van der Meer. Princess Kate, on the other hand, is right-handed and, like most people, tends to hold babies in her left arm.
The fact that the left arm is preferred only applies to babies: “As children grow larger and heavier, most people tend to carry them with their dominant and stronger arm,” it says. (sda/dpa)
Source: Blick
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