# Are Left-Handed People More Pedophilic Than Right-Handed People? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 8, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-left-handed-people-more-pedophilic-than-right-handed-people/471822 "2008-11-08T17:09:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-left-handed-people-more-pedophilic-than-right-handed-people/471822/1 "2008-11-08T17:09:36Z")
Is it true that left-handed people are significantly more inclined to be pedophiles than right-handed people? If so, why does this correlation exist? Does this tendency hold for just the act of becoming aroused, or is there an association between being left-handed and becoming a child molester? Does this relationship hold true for left-handed women as well as men? Are any other perversions associated with non-right-handedness? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-left-handed-people-more-pedophilic-than-right-handed-people/471822/2 "2008-11-08T17:17:12Z")
Yay! **Surreal** ’s back! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-left-handed-people-more-pedophilic-than-right-handed-people/471822/3 "2008-11-08T17:27:29Z")
From the Canadian [Centre for Addiction and Mental Health](http://www.camh.net/News_events/News_releases_and_media_advisories_and_backgrounders/Pedophile_study_cantor.html): > [@](#): > > Previous research from this team has strongly hinted that the key to understanding pedophilia might be in how the brain develops. Pedophiles have lower IQs, are three times more likely to be left-handed, and even tend to be physically shorter than non-pedophiles. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-left-handed-people-more-pedophilic-than-right-handed-people/471822/4 "2008-11-08T20:10:45Z")
[Probably a left hander](http://www.snopes.com/photos/people/peppers.asp) ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-left-handed-people-more-pedophilic-than-right-handed-people/471822/5 "2008-11-08T20:22:04Z")
Stats are that about 10 % of the populace is left handed. Also that 10 % is gay. Coincidence, I think not, God just made it easy to pick them out. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-left-handed-people-more-pedophilic-than-right-handed-people/471822/6 "2008-11-09T00:43:47Z")
Or it could be that statisticians just like 10%. Seriously, that seems high for gay people, though I’ve seen the number bandied about a lot, and it seems low for left-handers. Does anyone have reliable statistics for either group? ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-left-handed-people-more-pedophilic-than-right-handed-people/471822/7 "2008-11-09T02:26:03Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > Are any other perversions associated with non-right-handedness? > > Thanks. Schizophrenia and a desire to become POTUS in the last 60 years (i.e. ever since the Presidency became a perversion). ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-left-handed-people-more-pedophilic-than-right-handed-people/471822/8 "2008-11-09T03:50:07Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > From the Canadian [Centre for Addiction and Mental Health](http://www.camh.net/News_events/News_releases_and_media_advisories_and_backgrounders/Pedophile_study_cantor.html): > > > [@](#): > > > > Pedophiles have lower IQs, are three times more likely to be left-handed, and even tend to be physically shorter than non-pedophiles. We should keep in mind that all studies done on pedophilia involve subjects who are _criminals_ – i.e. pedos who actually committed a crime on a child AND were caught. These studies are inherently flawed, because they do not include the offenders who were skilled enough to hide their crimes (or convince their victims that they weren’t actually abused) or the pedophiles who never offend in the first place. (I doubt such a study will ever be done…if YOU were a secret pedophile, would YOU tell anyone??? I think not!) ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-left-handed-people-more-pedophilic-than-right-handed-people/471822/9 "2008-11-09T17:12:50Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Or it could be that statisticians just like 10%. > > Seriously, that seems high for gay people, though I’ve seen the number bandied about a lot, and it seems low for left-handers. Does anyone have reliable statistics for either group? If I remember correctly, the 10% figure is from a study by Kinsey. The study was flawed because it measured homosexual activity, and used a disproportionately high prison pop as subjects. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-left-handed-people-more-pedophilic-than-right-handed-people/471822/10 "2008-11-09T17:36:33Z")
There’s about 10% average same-sex sexual _behavior_ (in the US, once or more). That’s different from lesbian, gay, or bi _identity,_ which is a smaller number of people (in some studies up to 10% of US/European males, but typically 3-5% of females). ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-left-handed-people-more-pedophilic-than-right-handed-people/471822/11 "2008-11-09T18:50:18Z")
> [@susan](#): > > There’s about 10% average same-sex sexual _behavior_ (in the US, once or more). That’s different from lesbian, gay, or bi _identity,_ which is a smaller number of people (in some studies up to 10% of US/European males, but typically 3-5% of females). Last study I read said 4% or men and 2 % of women studied where exclusively homosexual. Including bisexual activity in studies adds a level of complexity that can result in very different results between studies. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-left-handed-people-more-pedophilic-than-right-handed-people/471822/12 "2008-11-09T19:16:46Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Stats are that about 10 % of the populace is left handed. Also that 10 % is gay. The same 10%, eh? Maybe that’s why I’m so psychically f’d up. I just need to be trained out of my left-handedness. Or my heterosexuality. :rolleyes: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-left-handed-people-more-pedophilic-than-right-handed-people/471822/13 "2008-11-09T20:39:00Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > The same 10%, eh? Maybe that’s why I’m so psychically f’d up. I just need to be trained out of my left-handedness. Or my heterosexuality. > > :rolleyes: 😃 Just lose the heterosexuality many guys will help you in the proccess ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-left-handed-people-more-pedophilic-than-right-handed-people/471822/14 "2008-11-09T20:58:33Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [Probably a left hander](http://www.snopes.com/photos/people/peppers.asp) Billy Quizboy sure has let himself go ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-left-handed-people-more-pedophilic-than-right-handed-people/471822/15 "2008-11-10T01:11:46Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > We should keep in mind that all studies done on pedophilia involve subjects who are _criminals_ – i.e. pedos who actually committed a crime on a child AND were caught. These studies are inherently flawed, because they do not include the offenders who were skilled enough to hide their crimes (or convince their victims that they weren’t actually abused) or the pedophiles who never offend in the first place. (I doubt such a study will ever be done…if YOU were a secret pedophile, would YOU tell anyone??? I think not!) What is interesting about that study, though, is that the control group also consisted of criminals. So we are comparing pedophiles who got caught to criminals who got caught committing other crimes. It seems to me that this would imply that pedophiles ARE stupider than the average population, or at least stupider than the average criminal.