Handedness is an attribute of humans defined by their unequal distribution of fine motor skill between the left and right hands. An individual who is more dexterous with the right hand is called right-handed, and one who is more skilled with the left is said to be left-handed. A minority of people are equally skilled with both hands, and are termed ambidextrous.

People who demonstrate awkwardness with both hands are said to be ambilevous or ambisinister. Ambisinistrous motor skills or a low level of dexterity may be the result of a debilitating physical condition. There are four main types of handedness: No one knows for certain why the human population is right-hand-dominant, but a number of theories have been proposed.

Newer theories of handedness look at handedness in different ways than previously. The newer view is that handedness is not a simple preference for one hand, because the two hands actually work together in more subtle ways. For example, when writing it is not a simple matter of one hand being dominant and writing on the paper.

For a right-handed person, the left hand is involved in important ways: it orients and grips the paper and provides the context from which the right hand operates. Thus the right hand appears specialised for finer movements and the left for broader, contextual movements. Evolution by natural selection is asserted to reinforce prevailing behaviors and deselect minority traits (unless the minority traits are linked in some way with desirable traits).

However, all human populations continue to 'maintain' a minority of left-handers. The implications are that:

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