Linkshänder, Gaucher or Lefty: Does left-handedness identity need to be considered when expanding handedness classifications?

Understanding the meanings of handedness is important when defining and labelling different handednesses. Although the majority group of right-handers may not consider their handedness often, this is not the case for left-handers. Human environments are constructed to facilitate ease for the majority, reinforcing privilege and making handedness somewhat "under the radar" for right-handers, whilst left-handers, as a minority group, have a long history of being oppressed and discriminated against. Social psychology, particularly social identity theory, tells us that categories are powerful psychological constructs. Humans are intrinsically drawn towards identifying with groups and becoming members, with resultant influences of membership on individuals. Group identity plays an important part in people's lives and can have a psychological impact or influence. Due to structural barriers and cultural influences, how we investigate differences between individuals from separate groups can be important depending on how they view the saliency of that membership. Empirical evidence shows that left-handers regard their handedness as more meaningful, central and important than right-handers. We suggest that researchers consider the influence of (handedness) categorization on individuals and that the overt nature of handedness makes an everyday binary split of right and left a powerful entity and especially meaningful to left-handers.