Left-Handedness in Disney Princesses and Why it Matters
A new study investigates left-handedness in animated movies.
Posted March 29, 2026 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan
Across the world, about 10.6 percent of people are left-handed ( Ocklenburg, 2024 ). In movies, the handedness of a character is often determined by the handedness of the actor, as it is highly difficult for a right-handed actor to realistically play a left-handed character and vice versa.
In animated movies, however, this restriction does not apply. Here, the handedness of a character is solely determined by the conscious choice of the animator. This allows for interesting insights into cultural conceptions about left-handedness that non-animated movies cannot provide.
As the negative stereotypes about left-handedness in some cultures have been mostly dissolved in recent decades, one would expect a rise in left-handedness in positive characters in animated movies. However, there has not been much psychological research on left-handedness in animated movies up to now.
New research examines handedness in animated movies
A new study entitled "Princess hands: Handedness of protagonists versus antagonists in Disney’s 'Princess' animated movies" now provides the first systematic scientific investigation of handedness in animated movies ( Propper et al, 2026 ). The research team, led by scientist Ruth E. Propper from the psychology department at Montclair State University, investigated the handedness of protagonists and antagonists in animated movies and how they changed over time.
To this end, the scientists watched 13 Disney Princess movies and analyzed the content in-depth. Based on three scientific questionnaires to assess handedness in real people, they analyzed the handedness of protagonists (such as Mulan or Ariel) and antagonists (such as Ursula or Gaston). Instead of just classifying a character as left-handed or right-handed, this method resulted in a handedness score between -100 (consistent left-handedness) and +100 (consistent right-handedness). This analysis allowed for a more fine-grained analysis of handedness.
Results show more Disney princesses are now left-handed
While the absolute values indicated stronger right-handedness in antagonists (24.7) than in protagonists (14.7), the comparison did not reach statistical significance. However, there was an interesting effect of time. While the handedness of the bad guys did not change much over the decades, protagonists showed a shift toward left-handedness in recent decades. Thus, the right-handedness of Disney princesses got weaker over time. The effect sizes of the analyses indicated that starting about 1995, the protagonists showed bigger handedness differences compared to the antagonists than in the decades before.
Take-Away: Representation matters
Taken together, the results of the study reflect changing cultural attitudes towards left-handedness. While in the decades between the 1930s and the 1990s, the main characters in Disney Princess movies were mostly right-handed, a stronger representation of left-handedness occurred since the mid-'90s. While this may look like a small detail to many people, the representation of minorities like left-handers in movies is important, and especially for left-handed children, it is a great experience to see themselves being represented in cinema.
Ocklenburg, S (2024). Left-handedness and brain asymmetries. An introduction. Springer: Heidelberg.
Propper, R. E., Narine, A., Aman, S., & Christman, S. D. (2026). Princess hands: Handedness of protagonists versus antagonists in Disney's "Princess" animated movies. Laterality , 1–10. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/1357650X.2026.2646485
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Sebastian Ocklenburg, Ph.D., is a professor for research methods in psychology at the Department of Psychology at MSH Medical School in Hamburg, Germany. His research focuses on left-handedness and brain asymmetries.
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