Handedness and footedness in Korean college students

This study was conducted to obtain normative data on fool preference and to compare footedness and handedness in a large sample (N = 866) of college s tudents in Korea, where left-hand use for writing and other public acts is severely restricted (Kang & Harris, 1993). Based on scores from Korean-lang uage versions of the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (EHI; Oldfield, 1971) a nd the Waterloo Footedness Questionnaire Revised (WT;Q-R; Elias, Bryden, & Bulman-Fleming, 1988). 11% of the subjects were left-footed but only 4.2% a s left-handed. A significantly higher percentage of left-handers than right -handers showed crossed lateral preference, that is, for preference of the opposite-side foot. Of the left-handers crossed preference, the majority we re inconsistent left-handers (ILH; Peters & Servos, 1989), whereas most of those with uncrossed preference were consistent left-handers (CLH). Factor analysis of the EHI and WFQ-R revealed 2 handedness factors and 2 footednes s factors. The footedness factors for skilled unipedal actions and for bala ncing-stabilizing varied in direction, strength, and relation to handedness in mixed-footers and left-handers, consistent with the possibility that th e division of footedness into these categories might be neuropsychologicall y meaningful. (C) 2000 Academic Press.