Objective: Previous research has shown decreased access in strong right-handers to processes lateralized to the right cerebral hemisphere. The current studies tested the hypothesis that decreased access to right hemisphere processes, as indexed by increasing strength of right-hand preference, is associated with deficits in body image representation.
Method: Experiment 1 measured individual's perceived versus actual BMI values. Experiment 2 involved the administration of the Eating Disorders Inventory-2 (EDI-2).
Results: Experiment 1 revealed that strong right-handedness was associated with a larger discrepancy between actual and perceived BMI, relative to mixed-handedness. In Experiment 2, strong-handers scored higher on the EDI-2 than did mixed-handers.
Conclusion: The results indicate that strong degrees of handedness are associated with deficits in accurate representation of body image and with increased eating disorder symptomatology in a nonclinical sample. Implications for research into the neural bases of eating disorders are discussed.