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Measuring anxiety in left and right handers via the BIS/BAS scale:
Is there a difference when the scales are reversed?
J11077
MSc Psychology (Conversion)
PS7112 Research Dissertation
2015/2016
University of Chester
MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
Measuring anxiety in left and right handers via the BIS/BAS scale: Is there a
difference when the scales are reversed?
Word Count – 8850
2
MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
Declaration and DOPEC code.
This work is original and has not been submitted in relation to any other degree or
qualification.
This research received ethical approval from the Department of Psychology Ethics
Committee on 21/4/2016, DOPEC code (FDPR220416).
Signed:
Date:
3
MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
With thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Paul Rodway for his assistance and eternal patience
throughout this piece of research.
4
MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
Supervision Log
Department of Psychology
Research Module Meeting Log 2015/2016
NAME:
SUPERVISOR: Dr. Paul Rodway
Date Discussion topics
11/11/15 Discussed ideas for project.
Handedness combined with a measurable aspect of personality.
Action Plan
Read around the literature of handedness.
Choose personality aspect.
SIGNED
STUDENT __________________________________ DATE: ___________
SUPERVISOR ________________________________ DATE: ___________
5
MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
Department of Psychology
Research Module Meeting Log 2015/2016
NAME:
SUPERVISOR: Dr. Paul Rodway
Date Discussion topics
2/12/15 Anxiety chosen as dependent variable.
Obtained guidance for the individual project proposal.
Decided to examine handedness, anxiety and gender. Additionally, the effect of reversing the Likert scale of the anxiety questionnaire.
Action Plan
Complete project proposal. Deadline is 9/12/15.
SIGNED
STUDENT __________________________________ DATE: ___________
SUPERVISOR ________________________________ DATE: ___________
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
Department of Psychology
Research Module Meeting Log 2015/2016
NAME:
SUPERVISOR: Dr. Paul Rodway
Date Discussion topics
8/12/15 Proposal has been submitted.
Discussed which online survey creator to use.esurvey chosen upon recommendation.
Action Plan
Obtain measures for questionnaire (BIS/BAS and EHI).
Design survey.
Consider ethics forms over Christmas.
SIGNED
STUDENT __________________________________ DATE: ___________
SUPERVISOR ________________________________ DATE: ___________
7
MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
Department of Psychology
Research Module Meeting Log 2015/2016
NAME:
SUPERVISOR: Dr. Paul Rodway
Date Discussion topics
6/1/16 Examined survey.
Looked at the logistical flow of the questions.Self-reported handedness dictates which version of the BIS/BAS scale the participant will be provided with.
Action Plan
Alter the title of the survey to prevent participants overthinking the intention of the research.
SIGNED
STUDENT __________________________________ DATE: ___________
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
SUPERVISOR ________________________________ DATE: ___________
Department of Psychology
Research Module Meeting Log 2015/2016
NAME:
SUPERVISOR: Dr. Paul Rodway
Date Discussion topics
16/3/16 Discussed how to complete the ethical approval form, due 23/3/16.
Action Plan
Add an age related question to the survey to ensure that participants are aged sixteen or over.
SIGNED
STUDENT __________________________________ DATE: ___________
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
SUPERVISOR ________________________________ DATE: ___________
Department of Psychology
Research Module Meeting Log 2015/2016
NAME:
SUPERVISOR: Dr. Paul Rodway
Date Discussion topics
13/4/16 Discussed ethical amendment form and the necessary changesrequired to achieve full approval.
Action Plan
Implement stated changes.
Consider reading a newly published relevant book, Laterality:Exploring the enigma of left-handedness. (Porac, 2016).
SIGNED
STUDENT __________________________________ DATE: ___________
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
SUPERVISOR ________________________________ DATE: ___________
Department of Psychology
Research Module Meeting Log 2015/2016
NAME:
SUPERVISOR: Dr. Paul Rodway
Date Discussion topics
11/5/16 Survey went live on 3/5/16 on esurvey.
Discussed small alterations to be implemented to ensure anequal number of participants complete both versions of the BIS/BAS scale (normal/flipped). Requested assistance to get it on the SONA system.
Data collection period is eight weeks.
Action Plan
Begin the introduction section.
SIGNED
STUDENT __________________________________ DATE: ___________
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
SUPERVISOR ________________________________ DATE: ___________
Department of Psychology
Research Module Meeting Log 2015/2016
NAME:
SUPERVISOR: Dr. Paul Rodway
Date Discussion topics
6/7/16 End of data collection period.
Discussed how to analyse data.
Agreed on how to score the scales in preparation for analysis.
Action Plan
Prepare data for analysis.
SIGNED
STUDENT __________________________________ DATE: ___________
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
SUPERVISOR ________________________________ DATE: ___________
Department of Psychology
Research Module Meeting Log 2015/2016
NAME:
SUPERVISOR: Dr. Paul Rodway
Date Discussion topics
20/7/16 Analysed data.
Discussed possible reasons for the effects that were obtained,as well as how to incorporate them into this piece of research.
Action Plan
Begin the method section.
Reconvene at beginning of September.
SIGNED
STUDENT __________________________________ DATE: ___________
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
SUPERVISOR ________________________________ DATE: ___________
Table of contents
Title page and word count …………………………………………………….……….….…2
Declaration and DOPEC code ….……………………………………………….….…….….3
Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………….…4
Supervision log ……………………………………………………………………………....5
Table of contents ……………………………………………………………………………14
List of tables …...……………………………………………………………………………15
1. Abstract............................................................................................................................16
2. Introduction.....................................................................................................................17
2.1 Hand Preference................................................................................................................17
2.2 Hand Preference and Anxiety...........................................................................................22
2.3 Hand Preference, Gender, and Anxiety...........................................................................25
2.4 Direction of Scale...............................................................................................................28
2.5 Current Investigation........................................................................................................30
3. Method.............................................................................................................................32
3.1 Participants........................................................................................................................32
3.2 Measures.............................................................................................................................32
3.3 Procedure...........................................................................................................................33
3.4 Design and analysis............................................................................................................35
4. Results..............................................................................................................................36
4.1 Overall Conditions.............................................................................................................37
4.2 BIS Results.........................................................................................................................37
4.3 BAS results.........................................................................................................................38
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
4.4 BAS drive...........................................................................................................................38
4.5 BAS fun seeking.................................................................................................................38
4.6 BAS reward responsiveness..............................................................................................39
5. Discussion........................................................................................................................40
5.1 Findings..............................................................................................................................40
5.2 Limitations and Future Research.....................................................................................45
6. Conclusion.......................................................................................................................47
7. References........................................................................................................................48
8. Appendices.......................................................................................................................60
Appendix A: Questionnaire..........................................................................................................60
Appendix B: Participant information sheet.................................................................................64
Appendix C: Participant debrief information.............................................................................66
Appendix D: Ethics application form...........................................................................................67
Appendix E: Ethics amendment form..........................................................................................96
Appendix F: SPSS outputs – CD attached to rear cover..........................................................104
List of tables
Table 1: Distribution of the male sample across categories.................................................................36
Table 2: Number of left- and right-handed participants in each condition of the BIS/BAS scale........37
Table 3: Means and standard deviations for BIS scores for handedness and order of scale.................37
Table 4: Means and standard deviations for BAS sub-section scores for handedness and order of scale.
.............................................................................................................................................................38
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
1. Abstract
A considerable amount of research suggests that left-handers experience more
behavioural inhibition and anxiety than right-handers. This is due to the assumption that left-
handers operate with a right hemispheric dominance, where behavioural inhibition is believed
to be processed. The current study examined the relationship between handedness,
behavioural approach and inhibition, where it was hypothesised that left-handers would
achieve a higher score of behavioural inhibition than right-handers. Additionally, the effects
of inverting the scale of measurement were examined, as previous investigations suggest that
left-handers prefer items to the leftward spatial area, whereas right-handers prefer items to the
rightward spatial area. Participants (N=213) completed two self-report questionnaires online,
Carver and White’s (1994) BIS/BAS scale and the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory
(Oldfield, 1971). Participants were presented with either the normal version of the BIS/BAS
scale, or the inverted version. No significant effects of handedness were obtained, thus
suggesting that being left-handed does not increase anxiety. Additionally, there were no
significant effects of inverting the BIS/BAS scale. The lack of significant results are
discussed in relation to the importance of measuring handedness as a continuous variable
rather than as a dichotomous variable.
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
2. Introduction
2.1 Hand Preference.
Handedness is an area that has captivated neuropsychologists for more than a century,
as it is a naturally occurring phenomenon that has been associated with asymmetrical
hemispheric functioning (Beaton, Kaack & Corr, 2015). One particular area of psychology
that has garnered a reasonable amount of interest is whether there are personality differences
between left- and right-handers. This piece of research sets out to examine whether anxiety,
as measured by behavioural inhibition and behavioural activation (Gray, 1982), differs
amongst left- and right-handed individuals. The body-specific hypothesis (Casasanto, 2009),
which suggests that right-handers prefer the rightward spatial area and left-handers prefer the
leftward spatial area, will also be tested by inverting the scale used to measure behavioural
inhibition and activation.
It has been largely agreed that left-handed people represent the clear minority of the
population at just 10% (Mukherjee, 2016), regardless of cultural or geographical variations
(Grimshaw & Wilson, 2013). It has also been speculated that this trend of distribution has
been present since the Australopithecines (the first hominids on the human rather than ape
line of evolution), some 4 million years ago (Annett, 1985). By examining stone-age
primitive tools, Wilson (1891) concluded that right-handedness was the norm and that left-
handedness was an exception. Given the evidence that polymorphism in handedness dates
back into the midst of human evolution, the possibility of heritability provides an explanation
of why this variation persists throughout societies today. Numerous studies suggest that left-
handers excel in physical activities such as cricket (Mukherjee, 2016; Wood & Aggleton,
1989), boxing (Gursoy, Ziyagil, Sahin & Dane, 2012), wrestling (Ziyagil, Gursoy, Dane &
Yuksel, 2010) and fencing (Harris, 2010). Additionally, there is an enhanced percentage of
17
MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
left-handed individuals at an elite level of sporting activities compared to the left-handed
frequency of the normal population (Loffing & Hagemann, 2012). As left-handedness is said
to be heritable (Porac, 2016), from an evolutionary perspective, males with a physical
advantage had a favourable probability of procreating as females would choose a mate that
could not only provide healthy genes for her offspring (demonstrated by physical health), but
who could also protect her and her offspring (Buss, 2008). This obviously means that the left-
handed characteristic has a chance of being transmitted to the next generation, and so forth,
thus explaining why left-handedness still persists in modern day society.
Porac (2016) reports that among studies investigating handedness patterns of family
members (including twin pairs), the heritable component of determining handedness ranges
from 25 to 40%. Furthermore, adoption studies have demonstrated that the handedness of a
child is more largely influenced by the handedness of the biological parents, rather than that
of the adoptive parents (Carter-Saltzman, 1980). However, genetics is not the sole contributor
of handedness, as is evidenced by a meta-analysis of twin studies (Porac, 2016). Within this
report, the handedness concordance rates of monozygotic twins (100% genetically identical)
and dizygotic twins (50% genetically identical) was roughly the same (81% and 80%
respectively). Although the concordance rates were high, if genetic factors were entirely
responsible for handedness, the concordance rate among monozygotic twins would be
reported at 100%. In an investigation conducted to examine genetic linkage among left-
handedness, Somers et al. (2015) failed to observe any evidence in favour of a major gene
accountable for left-handedness, but were able to report left-handed heritability at 24%, thus
echoing the findings of previous research and supporting the notion of genetics being
partially responsible for left-handedness.
Left-handers have been compared to right-handers on numerous neurological measures,
such as intelligence (Ghayas & Adil, 2007) and memory (Lyle, McCabe & Roediger, 2008),
18
MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
as well as various behavioural measures, like alcohol consumption (Denny, 2011) and
smoking (Harburg, Feldstein & Papsdorf, 1978). However, the consideration of handedness
and personality is a relatively recent area of research. Coren (1994) postulates that left- and
right-handers may differ in personality due to their experiences within the world. Other
researchers suggest that this difference in personality amongst left- and right-handers is due
to asymmetric hemispheric functioning (Davidson & Schaffer, 1983; Grimshaw & Wilson,
2013: Sutton & Davidson, 1997). A documented example of asymmetric hemispheric
difference among hand preference is language lateralisation, whereby virtually all right-
handers are specialised for language processing in the left hemisphere, compared to just 70%
of left-handers exhibiting this pattern of lateralisation. (Grimshaw & Wilson, 2013).
This notion of asymmetric lateralisation has garnered much interest and through the use
of electroencephalograms (EEGs), differences within frontal lobe activity have been
associated with numerous variables of personality. An increased function in the left frontal
lobe corresponds with approach-related traits, such as behavioural activation (Coan & Allen,
2003) and positive affect (Pauls, Wacker & Crost, 2005), whereas a greater right than left
frontal activity corresponds with withdrawal-related traits, such as behavioural inhibition
(Diego, Field & Hernandez-Reif, 2001; Sutton & Davidson, 1997) and shyness (Beaton et al.,
2008). These traits have been said to be affiliated with anxiety, as high levels of behavioural
inhibition and low levels of behavioural activation can predict susceptibility to this
heightened state (Jorm et al., 1999). As there is an evident relationship between asymmetric
neurological functioning and behavioural traits, alongside a postulated asymmetric
functioning associated with handedness, further research is warranted to establish whether a
link between anxiety and handedness is not just a confound. Based on the existing literature,
it would be expected that the left-handers would exhibit high levels of behavioural inhibition
as both of these individual differences involve right hemispheric functioning. Oppositely, it
19
MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
would be expected that the right-handers would display increased levels of behavioural
activation as both of these individual differences occur within the left hemisphere.
A further reason for investigating the relationship between handedness and anxiety is
that left-handers constitute a visible minority in any population (Grimshaw & Wilson, 2013).
Beaton et al. (2015) state that in most behavioural and cognitive psychological studies, left-
handers are excluded from participation to minimalize possible cerebral heterogeneity. This
obvious preference for right-handedness is reflected in the positive and negative connotations
for the right and left sides respectively. Denny (2011, p. 387) states that “being left-handed in
a largely right-handed world generates stresses”, stresses that could amount to elevated levels
of anxiety. The positive/negative pattern of association with right and left has been found to
exist across different cultures, for example, within the religion of Islam, the right hand is
honoured over the left, thus eating and drinking is conducted by the right, whereas hygiene is
restricted to the left (Saalih al-Munajjid, 2007). Furthermore, consumption of food from the
left hand is believed to be associated with the Shaytaan, the Islamic devil. This bias also
extends across Christianity when referring to how the people of the earth will be divided,
whereby the sheep (who will inherit the kingdom) are placed on Jesus’ right hand and the
goats (who are cursed unto hell) on the left (Matthew 25:33-34). The negative connotations
for the left side are also evident across different languages. Among Indo-European languages,
the words used to represent left possess other meanings, such as the French word gauche,
meaning left and awkward, or the Latin word sinister, pertaining to evil and unfortunate as
well as left (McManus, 2003). In comparison, the words for right, such as the French word
droit (meaning upright and honourable, Porac, 2016), are synonymous with good or correct
(Grimshaw & Wilson, 2013).
This prejudice towards left-handed people still occurs in modern society, as is
witnessed by the design of tools and other objects, such as scissors or guitars (Coren, 1994).
20
MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
Despite this discrimination, left-handedness still persists, thus adding weight to the
evolutionary theory of handedness. Up until fairly recently, rightward conversion attempts in
schools were common place, whereby left-handers were forced to switch to right-handedness
(Porac, 2016). Suitner, Maass, Bettinsoli, Carraro and Kumar (2015) proffer that being left-
handed in a rightward world requires more effort than expended by their right-handed
counterparts. For example, the majority of scripts are written from left-to-right, which reflects
the natural flow across the page for right-handers when writing, as outward movements are
easier to perform. Left-handers have to write against their natural outward flow (from right-
to-left), which requires more effort to learn and maintain (Suitner et al., 2015). It is not
beyond postulation that left-handers, who endure the regular struggle of fitting in to a world
that was not designed with them in mind (Suitner et al., 2015), may experience more
behavioural inhibition than right-handers, who interact with the world with ease (Wright &
Hardie, 2015).
When assessing handedness, it is crucial to note that there is a difference between hand
preference and hand performance (Porac, 2016). Hand preference can be measured by asking
individuals to describe which hand would be used to carry out tasks where only one hand
may be used, such as writing or using scissors. This measure of handedness can be collected
from questionnaires, like the Annett Hand Preference Questionnaire (Annett, 1970), or the
Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Oldfield, 1971). To assess hand performance, individuals
are required to complete dexterity tasks as quickly as possible, first with one hand and then
the other. The time difference in task completion for both hands is then calculated to provide
a score of hand performance. These methods of hand assessment measure different things and
although many individuals’ scores on both measures may demonstrate a correlation (Bishop,
1989), this is not always the case (Porac, 2016). For example, a person who writes with their
right hand could be faster with their left hand in motor dexterity tasks.
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
2.2 Hand Preference and Anxiety.
The connection between anxiety and handedness was originally proposed by Hicks and
Pellegrini in 1978, who announced that consistent right-handers were significantly less
anxious than those who reported left-hand usage. Wright, Hardie and Wilson (2009) further
investigated this relationship by focusing on behavioural inhibition and approach, which are
two separate neural motivational symptoms that influence behaviour. Proposed by Gray
(1982), the behavioural inhibition system (BIS) is related to anxiety, as it predicts a person’s
response to anxiety causing cues, such as punishment or negative events resulting in
avoidance behaviours, whereas the behavioural activation system (BAS) is related to
impulsivity and the willingness to pursue and achieve goals, accomplished by approach
behaviours.
By using the BIS/BAS Scale (Carver & White, 1994), a self-report Likert scale
questionnaire designed to measure behavioural inhibition and activation, Wright et al. (2009)
were able to conclude that left-handers scored significantly higher on the BIS scale than their
right-handed counterparts. The BIS/BAS scale (Carver & White, 1994) has been correlated
with other personality scales, with the BIS scale demonstrating positive correlations with the
Neuroticism scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised (EPQ-R) (Eysenck,
Eysenck & Barrett, 1985) (r = 0.64), the Negative Affect scale of the Positive and Negative
Affect Schedule (PANAS) (Kercher, 1992) (r = 0.48), and anxiety and depressive symptoms
of Goldberg scales (Goldberg, Bridges, Duncan-Jones & Grayson, 1988), (r = 0.42, r = 0.36
respectively). The BAS section, as a total of the sub-sections, positively correlates with
Extraversion scale of the EPQ-R (r = 0.44) and Positive Affect scale of PANAS (r = 0.46)
(Jorm et al., 1999), thus giving the BIS/BAS scale construct validity (Cozby & Bates, 2012).
Adding to the supporting research, a replication study of Wright et al. (2009) also recounted
that non-right handers (that is, those who reported using their left hand either consistently or
22
MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
inconsistently) achieved significantly higher BIS scores than right-handers (Beaton, Kaack &
Corr, 2015). However, both studies (Beaton et al., 2015; Wright et al., 2009) failed to observe
a significant difference in BAS scores across handedness, a finding briefly attributed to a
complex relationship between impulsivity and behavioural activation, as explained by Quilty,
Oakman and Farvolden (2007). Another investigation that implemented the BIS/BAS scale to
examine effects between handedness not only reported that the consistent left-handers
achieved the highest mean BIS score compared to the other groups of handedness
(inconsistent handedness and consistent right), but it was also reported that on one of the
BAS subscales (BAS-Fun Seeking), the inconsistent handedness category produced the
highest mean score (Hardie & Wright, 2014). The BAS-Fun Seeking significance was
explained in terms of inconsistent handers being less conservative and more open to non-
standard concepts, but the lack of significant findings on the other BAS subscales was not
discussed (Hardie & Wright, 2014).
Nonetheless, findings supporting the relationship between anxiety and handedness have
been found in experimental settings. In a study involving a computing task, Wright and
Hardie (2012) discovered that left-handers produced significantly higher state anxiety scores
than the right-handed participants, which substantiates the notion of right hemispheric
functioning for behavioural inhibition. Another method of inspecting behavioural inhibition,
or in fact, behavioural activation, is to employ apparatus requiring motor skills for
completion, such as the Tower of Hanoi (ToH) task, and observe participant response times.
The ToH is a three pegged, three ringed problem solving task that requires participants to
move the stacked rings from the initial state to the goal state in as fewest moves as possible.
When using this apparatus, Wright, Hardie and Rodway (2004) concluded that left-handers
took significantly longer than right-handers to initiate the task, thus demonstrating higher
behavioural inhibition as well as lower behavioural activation. These findings have been
23
MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
shown to be replicable in a similar investigation involving the ToH task, where it was
reported that the left-handers were slower to respond to the task than right-handers, regardless
of whether the stimuli was novel to the participant, as this pattern was observed across
several repeated measures trials (Wright & Hardie, 2015). Significant behavioural inhibition
of action amongst left-handers has also been recorded in a manual sorting task involving card
sorting, where task initiation was slower than the right-handed participants (Wright & Hardie,
2011).
Contradictorily, there have been several studies that have failed to observe a significant
difference in anxiety measures between left- and right-handers. Wienrich, Wells and
McManus (1982) were among the first researchers to report no significant differences
between anxiety and handedness, although their findings did suggest that extreme
handedness, that is consistent left- and right-handers, demonstrated more anxiety than the
mixed-handed group, regardless of hand preference. This particular discovery could be
explained by the mixed-handed group tending to select less extreme options on the
questionnaire that was used (the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, 1963), such as disagreeing
with strongly worded items, which would generate lower anxiety scores overall. Beaton and
Moseley (1984) also failed to find a relationship between handedness and anxiety, but
attribute their null findings to the measure of handedness that was implemented (Annett Hand
Preference Questionnaire, 1970), which created eight classes of hand preference. Although
Beaton and Moseley’s (1984) anxiety scores were miscalculated, an error that was made
apparent by a replication and extension study (French & Richards, 1990), an additional paper
that analysed the correct scores was published (Beaton & Moseley, 1991). The reanalysis
concurred with the original paper, whereby the relationship between handedness and anxiety
was found to be nonsignificant. Additionally, Beaton and Moseley (1991) reported that the
mixed-handed participants were no less likely to select extreme options on the scale of the
24
MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
questionnaire that was used than the consistent handed participants, thus contradicting the
findings of Wienrich et al. (1982). Furthermore, the replication study inspiring the reanalysis
reported that anxiety was unrelated to handedness (French & Richards, 1990). In a clinical
trial, handedness of participants with an anxiety disorder were compared to the handedness of
a normal control group (Merckelbach, de Ruiter & Olff, 1989). No support was found for a
connection between handedness and anxiety as the main effect of group failed to reach
significance (F<1). More recently, Lyle, Chapman and Hatton (2013) reported that neither
direction nor consistency of handedness had a main effect on any of the five measures used to
assess anxiety. As the existing evidence is inconsistent, the relationship between handedness
and anxiety needs further investigation.
2.3 Hand Preference, Gender, and Anxiety.
When considering the left-handed population, it is a frequently reported statistic than
there are more males than females (Annett, 1985; McManus, 2003; Porac, 2016). A meta-
analysis examining sex differences in left-handedness reported that across the 144 studies
included, there were significantly more males than females, with an estimated male to female
ratio of 1.23 (Papadatou-Pastou, Martin, Munafò & Jones, 2008). One theory that attempts to
explain the predominance of left-handedness amongst males is the Geschwind-Galaburda
hypothesis (1987). This hypothesis suggests that exposure to elevated levels of prenatal
testosterone can have an effect on the developing foetal brain. More specifically, it is
proposed that an abundance of prenatal testosterone influences cerebral lateralisation by
delaying the development on the left hemisphere, which in turn causes compensatory growth
in the right hemisphere. As more left-handers than right-handers are lateralised to the right
hemisphere (Porac, 2016), the Geschwind-Galaburda hypothesis (1987) offers a
neuropsychological explanation for this occurrence. Additionally, as testosterone is the
25
MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
principal male hormone, male foetuses are exposed to more prenatal testosterone than female
foetuses (Lust et al., 2011). However, of the experiments that investigate the Geschwind-
Galaburda hypothesis (1987), the majority of findings do not support the association between
elevated prenatal testosterone and left-handedness (Beaton, Rudling, Kissling, Taurines &
Thome, 2011; Bryden, McManus & Bulman-Fleming, 1994; Grimshaw, Bryden & Finegan,
1995; Lust et al., 2011).
Another possible explanation of the higher incidence of left-handedness in males could
be that females have been reported to be more successful at left-to-right handed conversions
(Porac & Buller, 1990), which would reduce the number of left-handed females whilst the
left-handed male figure remains the same. This notion garners support from the fact that
larger sex differences were reported in earlier studies than in comparison to more recent
studies (Papadatou-Pastou et al., 2008), as the practice of forced handedness conversions are
much less common in today’s society (Porac, 2016). Bryden (1977) provides an alternate
reason for the sex difference among left-handers by attributing the disparity to the way in
which males and females answer questionnaire items. The findings of Bryden’s (1977)
investigation suggest that males are less likely to opt for extreme responses on a Likert scale
(whereby 1 = always right and 5 = always left) in comparison to females. When tallied, the
final male score adds up to a score that represents a more mixed-handed or left-handed total
than the females.
In contrast to the sex differences among handedness, a widely documented finding
within psychiatric epidemiology is that females are more likely to develop an anxiety
disorder then males (McLean, Asnaani, Litz & Hofmann, 2011; Remes, Brayne, van der
Linde & Lafortune, 2016). When relating this discovery to the psychological literature, it is
documented that females achieve higher scores on a number of anxiety measures than males
(Beaton et al., 2015; Wienrich et al., 1982; Wright et al., 2009). When using the BIS/BAS
26
MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
Scale (Carver & White, 1994) to examine a community sample of nearly 3000 individuals,
Jorm et al. (1999) report that females scored significantly higher on the behavioural inhibition
scale than the males. Wright et al. (2009) also reported that females were more sensitive to
the BIS scale than the males, especially the left-handed females, as they exhibited higher BIS
scores. Similarly, Beaton et al. (2015) found that non-right-handed females had the highest
BIS scores of the investigation. However, in both Wright et al.’s (2009) and Beaton et al.’s
(2015) experiments, the BAS scales remained unaffected by sex differences, thus suggesting
that behavioural activation occurs uniformly across men and women. As it is only the BIS
scale that is concerned with anxiety, these findings provide further evidence to the case that
more females than males are affected by anxiety.
Regardless of this accepted finding, there have been numerous studies that have failed
to observe a significant difference of anxiety between males and females. French and
Richards (1990) were unable to detect any main effects of sex for anxiety scores in their
investigation. However, the measure used to gauge anxiety within this particular study was
the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) Form Y (Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg &
Jacobs, 1983), thus meaning that even though the BIS scale has been shown to correlate with
trait anxiety (Li et al., 2008), the results cannot be truly comparable to the investigations
using the BIS/BAS. One experiment that used the BIS/BAS scale but still failed to yield a
significant difference between males’ and females’ scores also examined differences in
neurological functioning (Li et al., 2014). By implementing voxel-based morphometry, sex
differences in regional grey matter volume were detected, thus suggesting a sex-related
neuroanatomical functioning for behavioural inhibition and activation. Simply stated,
although the behaviours for both males and females were similar, the areas of the brain
responsible for this conduct differed between the sexes. This finding echoes the claims of
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Cahill (2006), who states that the neural processing of emotional stimuli differs significantly
between men and women.
2.4 Direction of Scale.
The body-specificity hypothesis (B-SH) (Casasanto, 2009) posits that if mental
representations of the world are formed by the way in which individuals interact with their
physical environment, then people with different bodies (namely left- and right-handed
people) will differ in this interaction and therefore develop systematically different mental
representations. More specifically, the B-SH states that right-handed people associate the
rightward spatial area with positivity and the leftward spatial area with negativity, whereas
this pattern is reversed for left-handed people. In an investigation that consisted of five
separate experiments, which included physical interaction with the environment as well as
orally stated spatial preferences, Casasanto (2009) obtained support for the B-SH in every
trail. The consistent finding was that the left-handed participants associated positive ideas
with the left and negative ideas with the right, whereas the reverse association was
demonstrated by the right-handed participants. Further support for the B-SH hails from an
investigation that examined spatial memory and the ability to recall positively- and
negatively-valenced locations (Brunyé, Gardony, Mahoney & Taylor, 2012). The results
suggested that right-handed participants would overestimate how far right the positively-
valenced locations were in relation to the original site of the item, whilst overestimating how
far left the negatively-valenced locations were, whereas the left-handed participants displayed
the opposite pattern.
Casasanto (2011) further proposed that it is the ease of the interaction with the physical
environment that influences the valence associations, rather than just cultural and language
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
perceptions of right meaning good and left meaning sinister, a factor highlighted by
Grimshaw and Wilson (2013). Ease of interaction, or motor fluency, promotes positive
emotions and evaluations for the side that is dominant, as individuals prefer the easiest
possible manner to accomplish tasks (Casasanto, 2011). Consequently, right-handed people
interact more fluently with the environment on their right and more clumsily on their left,
thus inherently associating right with good and left with bad, as opposed to left-handed
people who will form the reverse association.
The importance of motor experience has been evidenced in both clinical (long-term)
and non-clinical (short-term) settings. Amongst initially right-handed stroke patients, those
who had experienced right hemi-paresis, thus causing them to be effectively left-handed,
demonstrated orally that they regarded positively valenced items to be on the left side and
negatively valenced items on the right (Casasanto & Chrysikou, 2011). In non-clinical
settings, a short-term switch of valence association was reported following a handicapping of
the dominant hand, thus forcing participants to switch to the non-dominant hand for a simple
motor task, making the non-dominant hand the preferred hand as task completion was
temporarily easier (Casasanto & Chrysikou, 2011). It was concluded that motor experience
(even after just one task) can influence the participants’ spatial mapping of good and bad.
The B-SH (Casasanto, 2009) has been shown to be present in children as young as 5, as
right handed children attributed positive ideas to the stimulus on the right side, which
suggests that the development of abstract concepts such as intelligence and friendliness can
be influenced by handedness and motor experience at an early age (Casasanto & Henetz,
2012). The supporting evidence for the B-SH is not just limited to the investigations
conducted by psychologist who proposed this theory. In 2013, de la Vega, Dudschig, De
Filippis, Lachmair and Kaup reported that even when participants’ hands were crossed (right
hand in the left spatial area, left hand in the right spatial area), those who were right-handed
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responded to positive stimuli significantly faster with their right hand than their left, which
further endorses the notion of learned valence tendencies through physical interactions.
When relating the B-SH to Likert scale questionnaires, it would be expected that right-
handed participants would select items on the right of the scale, whereas left-handed
participants would select items to the left of the scale. In the case of the BIS/BAS Scale
(Carver & White, 1994), where the scale ranges from 1 = very true and 4 = very false, and
most items are reverse scored, it would be expected that right-handed participants would
demonstrate low scores as they have opted for the items on the right of scale due to their
spatial positioning. This expectation is reversed for the left-handed participants. However,
should the BIS/BAS Scale (Carver & White, 1994) be inverted, whereby 1 = very false and 4
= very true, and the items no longer need reverse scoring, it would be expected that the right-
handed participants would maintain high scores as they have selected the most rightward
option on the scale. Again, this expectation for the left-handed participants would be
reversed, thus meaning that they would exhibit low scores on the BIS/BAS Scale.
2.5 Current Investigation.
The current investigation examined the relationship between handedness, gender,
anxiety (in the form of self-report BIS/BAS scores) and direction of scale, using the
Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Oldfield, 1971) and two versions of Carver and White’s
(1994) BIS/BAS scale; one with the normal scale (1 = very true, 4 = very false), and one with
an inverted scale (1 = very false, 4 = very true). The questionnaires were posted online as this
method was quicker and easier to distribute than paper versions, thus meaning a larger
sample size was obtained (Cozby & Bates, 2012). As left-handers are lateralised to the right
hemisphere (Grimshaw & Wilson, 2013), which is associated with behavioural inhibition, it
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was hypothesised that the left-handers would achieve higher BIS scores than the right-
handers. As right-handers are lateralised to the left hemisphere (Grimshaw & Wilson, 2013),
which is associated with behavioural activation, it was hypothesised that right-handers would
achieve higher BAS scores than the left-handers. In addition, it was hypothesised that females
would achieve higher BIS scores than males, as of the sexes, anxiety is more prevalent
amongst women (Jorm et al., 1999), which would be reflected by higher behavioural
inhibition scores. Furthermore, it was hypothesised that the left-handers who are presented
with the normal version of the BIS/BAS scale would achieve higher scores than the right-
handers who complete the normal version of the scale, as they would prefer the items that are
on the leftward side, as in left-handers, this is the area that is associated with positivity. For
the inverted scale, this hypothesis was reversed, meaning that the left-handers would achieve
lower BIS/BAS scores than the right-handers who completed the inverted scale, as the most
leftward option in this version would generate a lower total sum as the scoring of the
BIS/BAS scale is no longer reversed.
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3. Method
3.1 Participants
Participants consisted of 163 females and 50 males aged 16 and over, of whom 14
identified as ambidextrous, 63 identified as left-handed and 136 identified as right-handed. A
convenience sampling method was employed as this questionnaire was open to internet users
who were using social media. Ethical approval was granted by the University of Chester
Psychology Department Ethics Committee. The British Psychological Society’s ethical
guidelines were also adhered to by ensuring that participants were aged 16 or over.
3.2 Measures
Anxiety was measured using Carver and White’s (1994) BIS/BAS questionnaire. This
consists of 24 items which are divided into four sub-scales. Behavioural inhibition (BIS
scale) measures anxiety and avoidance behaviours and contains 7 items, such as “Criticism or
scolding hurts me quite a bit”. Behavioural activation (BAS scale) measures impulsivity and
approach behaviours by using three sub-scales: BAS-D (drive, containing 4 items, for
example “If I see a chance to get something I want I move on it right away”), BAS-FS (fun
seeking, containing 4 items such as “I'm always willing to try something new if I think it will
be fun”) and BAS-RR (reward responsiveness, consisting on 5 items like “When I'm doing
well at something I love to keep at it”. The questionnaire also includes 4 filler items that do
not contribute towards the scoring. Each item is scored on a 4-point Likert scale. For the
normal questionnaire, the responses ranged from 1 (very true for me) to 4 (very false for me).
For the inverted questionnaire, this was reversed (1 = very false for me, 4 = very true for me).
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
All items, excluding two (2 and 22), were reverse scored and then tallied to provide a total
score for each sub-scale. The maximum scores were; BIS = 28, BAS-D = 16, BAS-FS = 16
and BAS-RR = 20. The BIS/BAS questionnaire has been shown to achieve strong reliability,
with Cronbach α of 0.65 and above for all sub-sections (Jorm et al., 1999).
Handedness was then assessed using the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (EHI)
(Oldfield, 1971). This is a ten item survey that queries the direction and consistency of
preferred hand usage for different activities, such as writing, throwing and using a spoon. The
response options (with corresponding values for scoring) are “always left” (– 10), “mostly
left” (– 5), “either” (0), “mostly right” (+5) and “always right” (+10). Laterality scores range
from – 100 (exclusively left-handed) to +100 (exclusively right-handed). By measuring items
on a continuum, the EHI produces a numerical score which can indicate the strength of hand
preference (McMeekan & Lishman, 1975). The original EHI required participants to place +
in the appropriate left or right column, + + if the hand preference was so strong that they
would never use the other hand unless forced, or + in both columns if there was no preferred
hand choice. However, Fazio, Coenen and Denney (2012) demonstrated that less than half
(47.3%) of their participants were able to fully understand this original format, compared to
88.2% comprehending the Likert scale system. Additionally, the Likert scale used in this
investigation made data collection and comparisons simpler (Cozby & Bates, 2012).
3.3 Procedure
The questionnaire was available via a link, which directed participants to an esurvey
webpage where they were invited to complete the questionnaire (see appendix A). By
advertising the survey through social media, rather than the SONA system employed solely
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
by Chester University, the catchment of potential participants was widened to beyond
psychology students, thus increasing the representativeness of the sample (Cozby & Bates,
2012). Participants were provided with an information sheet prior to the questionnaire (see
appendix B). It was ensured that participants were of consenting age by including the
question “Are you aged 16 or over?”, whereby if the response was “No”, they were directed
to the debriefing page which ended the survey (see appendix C). As the questionnaire was
posted on social media, participants were able to complete the survey multiple times. For this
reason, participants were asked to complete the questionnaire only once.
Initially, recruitment began with a general request for participants via social media. The
following message accompanied the survey link:
Hello. I am a postgraduate Psychology student conducting research for my
dissertation. I am aiming to examine whether there is an association between
handedness and anxiety. This questionnaire should take no more than twenty
minutes to complete. The link is below should you wish to take part. Thank you
in advance.
Throughout the course of recruitment, the need for more left-handed participants arose,
so the bulletin of “CALLING ALL LEFTIES!” was added to the recruitment text.
Participants were first asked to specify their gender, with the options being male or
female. They were then asked to select which option best describes their handedness; left,
right or ambidextrous. This enabled the distribution of normal versus inverted scale of the
BIS/BAS questionnaire (left and ambidextrous received normal, right received inverted,
which was then switched halfway through the data collection period), thus ensuring a similar
sample size for both left- and right-handers to answer the normal and inverted scales. As the
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
questionnaire was advertised through social media, this methodology was deemed necessary
as the pool of potential participants was limited to those who had access to the survey link.
Participants were asked to complete the BIS/BAS questionnaire, followed by the EHI.
There were three questions collecting demographic information and 34 items on the BIS/BAS
(24 items) and the EHI (10 items). All of which took no longer than 20 minutes to complete.
Included at the end of the questionnaire was a space for University of Chester Psychology
students to type their unique identity code to receive 2 RPS credits. Participants were then
thanked for their participation and invited to contact the researcher should they have any
questions.
3.4 Design and analysis
The design of this investigation was a between-subjects quantitative questionnaire. The
dependent variables were the scores on the BIS/BAS scales. The independent variables were
handedness (left/right), direction of scale (normal/inverted), and sex (male/female). The data
was then analysed using a two-way unrelated analysis of variance (ANOVA), with the alpha
level set at p<0.05. The IBM statistical package, version 22 was used to run this analysis.
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
4. Results
Data was prepared for analysis in Microsoft Excel®. Of the 255 participants, 42 had
failed to complete the entire questionnaire, thus resulting in the removal of these incomplete
sets of data.
Handedness was calculated by examining the laterality scores provided by the
Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Oldfield, 1971). The participant’s with a laterality score
between -10 and +10 (N=15) were deemed to be ambidextrous. As there were too few
participants within this category to analyse as its own condition, they were removed from all
analyses. When preparing the remaining laterality scores, those with a score of +15 and
higher were deemed right handed, whereas those with a score -15 or lower were categorised
as left handed. Eight self-report ambidextrous participants were sorted into the right handed
category according to their laterality score, and one was sorted into the left-handed category.
One participant self-reported as right-handed but their laterality score was -80, indicating a
consistent left hander. As it was unclear which section of the questionnaire they had
misinterpreted, their data set was removed from analysis. A further participant was removed
as they self-reported as left-handed but had a right-handed laterality score (LS = 15).
This resulted in N=196 for statistical analysis (females = 150, males = 46). As the
female to male ratio was 3:1, and very few males were in some of the conditions, the effect of
sex was not analysed. See Table 1 for the male categorical distribution.
Table 1: Distribution of the male sample across categories.
Handedness Normal Scale Inverted Scale
Left 2 9
Right 21 14
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
4.1 Overall Conditions
Table 2 displays the number of left- and right-handers in each condition of the
BIS/BAS scale. The percentage of left-handed participants was calculated at 29.6%, which
was a large enough sample to see an effect.
Table 2: Number of left- and right-handed participants in each condition of the BIS/BAS scale.
Handedness Normal Scale Inverted Scale Total
Left 19 39 58
Right 71 67 138
Total 90 106
4.2 BIS Results
Table 3 displays the BIS scores for the handedness and order of the scale. The left
handed inverted scale group scored higher than the other conditions.
Table 3: Means and standard deviations for BIS scores for handedness and order of scale. Normal Scale Inverted Scale
Left Right Total Left Right Total
BIS Score 20.7 (3.1) 20.2 (3.2) 20.3 (3.2) 21.6 (3.4) 20.3 (2.9) 20.8 (3.2)
A 2 x 2 (handedness (left vs. right) by order of scale (normal vs. inverted)) between-
subjects ANOVA was conducted on the mean BIS scores. The effect of handedness failed to
reach significance F(1, 195) = 3.52, p = 0.06. There was no significant effect of order of scale
F < 1. The interaction between handedness and order failed to reach significance F < 1.
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
4.3 BAS results
Table 4 illustrates the mean BAS sub-section scores for left and right handers on the
normal and inverted scales.
Table 4: Means and standard deviations for BAS sub-section scores for handedness and
order of scale. Normal Scale Inverted Scale
Left Right Total Left Right Total
BAS-D 9.8 (2.4) 10.3 (2.4) 10.2 (2.4) 10.1 (1.5) 9.9 (2.7) 10.0 (2.3)
BAS-FS 10.7 (2.5) 12.1 (2.1) 11.8 (2.3) 11.4 (2.0) 10.9 (2.5) 11.1 (2.4)
BAS-RR 15.3 (3.3) 16.4 (2.2) 16.2 (2.5) 16.4 (2.5) 16.1 (2.3) 16.2 (2.4)
4.4 BAS drive
A 2 x 2 (handedness (left vs. right) by order of scale (normal vs. inverted)) between-
subjects ANOVA was conducted on the mean BAS drive scores. There was no significant
effect of handedness F < 1. There was no significant effect of order of scale F < 1, and the
interaction between handedness and order was also not significant F < 1.
4.5 BAS fun seeking
A 2 x 2 (handedness (left vs. right) by order of scale (normal vs. inverted)) between-
subjects ANOVA was conducted on the mean BAS fun seeking scores. The effect of
handedness failed to reach significance. There was no significant effect of order of scale F <
1. The interaction between handedness and order of scale was significant F(1, 195) = 7.27, p
= 0.008, where the left-handers scored lower than the right-handers on the normal scale, but
the right-handers scored lower than the left-handers on the inverted scale.
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
Further one-way ANOVAs were conducted to analyse the effect of the interaction
between handedness and order of scale. There was a significant effect of handedness on the
normal scale F(1, 89) = 6.55, p = 0.012, with the right-handers scoring higher than the left-
handers. However, the effect of handedness on the inverted scale was not significant.
4.6 BAS reward responsiveness
A 2 x 2 (handedness (left vs. right) by order of scale (normal vs. inverted)) between-
subjects ANOVA was conducted on the BAS reward scores. There was no significant effect
of handedness F<1. There was no significant effect of order of scale F<1. The effect of
interaction between handedness and order of scale failed to reach significance F(1, 195) =
3.10, p = 0.08.
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
5. Discussion
5.1 Findings
This investigation examined anxiety via behavioural inhibition and behavioural
activation by using the BIS/BAS Scale (Carver & White, 1994) in relation to handedness,
gender, and order of scale. It was hypothesised that the left-handers would score higher on
the BIS scale than the right-handers, but this was not supported as there was no significant
difference between the groups’ BIS means. Inspection of the BIS means prohibits the
possibility of a type II error, as both the left- and right-handed groups achieved virtually the
same score. These findings contrast with the results of previous research, such as Wright et
al. (2009) and Beaton et al. (2015), whose results stated that the right-handed participants had
the significantly lower BIS scores. However, in the Beaton et al.’s (2015) investigation, the
highest scoring BIS group is referred to as ‘non-right-handed’, which encompassed both left-
and mixed-handed participants. This terminology can potentially be misleading, as it was not
solely the left-handed participants who exhibited high BIS scores. This investigation removed
the ambidextrous participants before analysis, rather than assign them to a non-right-handed
group. In Beaton et al.’s (2015) analyses where handedness was treated as a categorical
variable, whereby handedness scores were split into three, four, or five groups indicating
strength of hand preference, the results of BIS difference failed to reach significance, a fact
attributed to a small number of left-handers in their sample (Beaton et al., 2015). Therefore,
Beaton et al.’s (2015) findings should be treated with caution as the results seem to depend
on how left-handedness was measured.
The non-significant BIS results from the current study also conflict with the
behavioural inhibition results from the investigations that used experimental settings, namely
the Tower of Hanoi trials (Wright et al., 2004; Wright & Hardie, 2015) and Wright &
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
Hardie’s (2011) study involving a card sorting task. However, within these experiments,
behavioural inhibition was deduced from task initiation times, where the left-handed
participants were found to take longer to start the tasks than the right-handed participants. It
may have been that the initiation of task time was influenced more by the act of planning how
to complete the task, rather than actual behavioural inhibition. Wright and Hardie (2015)
predicted that behavioural inhibition would be higher amongst left-handers when the task was
novel, which would mean that when the ToH was presented for a second time, the left-
handers would experience less behavioural inhibition, as reflected by a shorter initiation
period than the first trial. This prediction was based on Rogers (1999) suggestion that novel
stimuli is processed by the left-hemisphere, which controls exploratory behaviour, thus
resulting in the right-handed participants who are lateralised to this hemisphere to be quicker
in novel task initiation. However, task novelty was not deemed significant, as in both trials,
the left-handed participants took significantly longer then the right-handed participants to
initiate the task, which strengthens the notion of additional planning time, rather than
behavioural inhibition. As the current investigation measured behavioural inhibition by using
Carver and White’s (1994) BIS/BAS scale, the results can never be truly comparable to the
studies that used task initiation time to behavioural inhibition.
An alternative explanation for the lack of significant difference between the mean BIS
scores for the left- and right-handed participants is that the investigation has focused on the
wrong aspect of handedness. Prichard, Propper and Christman (2013) suggest that
directionality of handedness is irrelevant to cognitive performance, but instead it is the degree
of handedness that should be the variable of interest within the handedness literature.
Schacter (1994) echoes this view and claims that investigations that fail to distinguish
between directionality and degree of handedness run the risk of generating null results and
loss of statistical power when consistent and inconsistent handers are combined. According to
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
this perspective, the comparisons should be made between consistent/strong handedness and
inconsistent/mixed handedness. The reasoning behind this proposal is that inconsistent
handedness involves interhemispheric communication and access to the right hemisphere
(Prichard et al., 2013), whereas consistent handedness is associated with poor functional
coordination between the cerebral hemispheres (Lyle, Chapman & Hatton, 2013).
Furthermore, in a neuroimaging investigation, the corpus callosum (the connecting bundle of
neural fibres between the two cerebral hemispheres) was found to be larger in the inconsistent
handed participants than the consistent handed participants, thus allowing for ease of
interhemispheric communication for those whose handedness is inconsistent (Luders et al.,
2010).
There has been a large amount of support generated for the inconsistent versus
consistent handedness theory among the investigations that have included degree of
handedness in their analyses when examining the relationship between handedness and
anxiety. Wienrich et al. (1982) reported that the direction of handedness within their study
was inconsequential in relation to anxiety, but it was in fact the extreme/consistent
handedness groups that achieved the highest score on the anxiety measure. A significant
difference in the mean score of anxiety between inconsistent right-handers and consistent
right-handers was reported by Lyle et al. (2013), with the inconsistent right-handers reporting
less anxiety. However, this trend was not found amongst the inconsistent and consistent left-
handed participants, a fact attributed to consistency-related differences in the
interhemispheric interaction between inconsistent left- and right-handers. In an investigation
using the BIS/BAS scale to measure anxiety, Hardie and Wright (2014) announced that for
the left-handed participants, BIS scores and hand strength were significantly correlated, thus
resulting in the consistent left-handers achieving the highest BIS score, and therefore, the
most behavioural inhibition. As there was no association reported between the right-handers
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
and BIS scores, it was concluded that the relationship between handedness consistency and
preference differs for right- and left-handers, thus supporting the notion of differences in
interhemispheric interaction (Lyle et al., 2013).
However, as Beaton and Moseley (1984) point out, those who opt for moderate
responses on one measure, such as the EHI, may be just as likely to opt for the moderate
response on another measure, namely the BIS/BAS scale. These moderate selectors will then
achieve lower scores than those who select extreme responses, thus giving the impression that
mixed-handers have less behavioural inhibition than consistent handers. Additionally, this
pattern of response selection could account for the significant correlation between left-
handedness and BIS score, as reported by Hardie and Wright (2014). As the current
investigation failed to take consistency of handedness into account, due to insufficient mixed-
handed participants, this particular theory was unable to be tested.
Another hypothesis was that the right-handers would score higher on the BAS
questions than the left-handers, but this hypothesis was not supported as there was no
significant difference between the groups’ BAS scores. The lack of consistent BAS findings
echoes the results of previous research (Beaton et al., 2015; Hardie & Wright, 2014; Wright
et al., 2009), which suggests that behavioural activation is unrelated to handedness. To return
to the proposal of Prichard et al. (2013), the lack of significant BAS results could be due to
the direction of handedness being the wrong variable of interest. Instead, focus should have
been given to the degree of handedness, that is, the consistency. In support of this possibility,
Christman (2014) reports that inconsistent handedness was associated with higher levels of
sensation seeking than consistent handedness, a factor which is akin to the fun seeking
subscale of the BAS section. Prichard et al. (2013) also states that right-handers tend to more
consistent in their handedness than left-handers. Therefore, if the right-handers were more
consistent than the left-handers, then according to Christman (2014), they would not have
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
achieved a high score on the BAS scale as the inconsistent handers, which by deductive
reasoning refers to the left-handers. Perhaps the conflicting theories (behavioural activation
occurs in the left hemisphere/ inconsistent handers possess more behavioural activation)
cancelled each other out, which would explain why the mean BAS scores for the left- and
right-handed participants did not significantly differ. Alternatively, behavioural activation is
just not related to handedness.
It was hypothesised that females would score higher on the BIS section than males,
however, gender differences were unable to be tested due to the disparity among participant
population. In one condition, the left-handed males who completed the normal BIS/BAS
scale, there were only two participants, which is not a large enough sample to analyse
statistically. Additionally, there were three times as many females as there were males. This
might be due to there being more females within the catchment area of social media.
Research conducted by Smith (2008) highlighted the fact that women are more likely to
participate in online surveys than men, an issue that has clearly resonated within the current
investigation. Penner and Finkelstein (1998) suggest that female volunteers have more
prosocial characteristics than male volunteers, such as more helpfulness. This could partially
explain why the sample of the current investigation mainly consisted of women.
The final hypotheses predicted that when presented with the normal BIS/BAS scale, the
left-handers would achieve higher scores than the right-handers of the same scale version,
whereas when presented with the inverted BIS/BAS scale, the left-handers would achieve
lower scores than the right-handers of the same scale. Neither of these hypotheses were
supported, as the total BIS/BAS means for both versions of the scale did not significantly
differ. In fact, the mean scores of the BAS-FS for the left- and right-handers contradicted
these propositions and therefore, the body-specific hypothesis (Casasanto, 2009), as in this
subscale, the right-handers scored higher than the left-handers on the normal scale, whereas
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
the left-handers scored higher than the right-handers on the inverted scale. The results of the
BAS-FS on the normal scale, although not at a significant level, do support the previous
research that reports left-handers as exhibiting less behavioural activation than right-handers.
This could be due to both right-handedness (Grimshaw & Wilson, 2013) and behavioural
activation (Coan & Allen, 2003) being lateralised in the left hemisphere. In an investigation
that examined white matter integrity and scores on the Carver and White’s (1994) BIS/BAS
scale, a positive correlation between BAS-FS scores and left hemisphere activation was
obtained (Xu et al., 2012), which might assist in the explanation of the current findings for
the normal scale. However, this reasoning cannot be extended to the inverted scale as the
opposite pattern was obtained.
5.2 Limitations and Future Research
As with any investigation, the current study is not without flaws. Firstly, the method of
participant recruitment may be criticised, as the questionnaires were administered using a
web-based approach. By offering the questionnaire via the internet, there is the possibility
that participants may not respond accurately or honestly (Hardie & Wright, 2104). However,
due to the anonymity provided by internet, there is no a priori reason to believe that
participants would have been deceitful in their answering, as any effects of social desirability
would have been eliminated by their anonymous identity (Cozby & Bates, 2012).
Additionally, the sample of participants will have been subject to self-selection biases,
namely, the willingness to participate. This could have been the reasoning behind the female
to male ratio, as Smith (2008) suggests that women are more likely to participate in online
research than men. As previously discussed, owing to the insufficient number of male
participants in some of the conditions, the hypotheses that females would achieve higher BIS
scores than males was unable to be tested. Future investigations could ensure the same
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sample size for males and females by actively requesting more male participants and having a
maximum cut off for female participants.
Another limitation of the current research is that handedness was treated as a
dichotomous variable, due to insufficient inconsistent left- and right-handed participants. By
categorising participants as either left- or right-handed, any possible differences between
handedness consistency was unable to be examined. As a considerable amount of the pre-
existing literature has included consistent and inconsistent handedness within the analyses
(Beaton et al., 2015; Hardie & Wright, 2014; Lyle et al., 2013; Wienrich et al., 1982), this
could explain why the current investigation failed to see any significant differences in the
BIS/BAS scores of the left- and right-handed groups, as handedness is not as absolute as
initially assumed (Prichard et al., 2013). Subsequent research could therefore examine
handedness in terms of consistency, which would allow the analyses to identify possible
correlations between the degree of handedness and BIS/BAS score.
Lastly, this research has discussed the notion of differences in hemispheric
lateralisation between left- and right-handers, as well as differences in hemispheric
functioning for behavioural inhibition and activation. It would be advantageous to employ
fMRI techniques to actually observe the hemispheric contributions towards behavioural
inhibition and activation in relation to handedness.
46
MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
6. Conclusion
The aims of this investigation were to examine whether there was a relationship
between handedness, gender and anxiety, as well as seeing if inverting the BIS/BAS scale
would make a difference to the scores. Gender differences were unable to tested, due to an
insufficient male sample. In line with some of the previous research (Beaton & Moseley,
1984, 1991; French & Richards, 1990; Wienrich et al., 1982), no significant differences
between handedness and BIS/BAS scores were obtained from this investigation, thus
suggesting that being left-handed does not increase anxiety and associated behaviours.
Inverting the BIS/BAS scale had no significant effect, as the left-handers did not prefer the
most leftward option over the rightward options, just as the right-handers did not prefer the
most rightward option over the leftward options, which therefore contradicts the body-
specific hypothesis (Casasanto, 2009). It may well be that the lack of significant results in the
current study are due to handedness being measured as a dichotomous variable, rather than
being measured on a continuum.
47
MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
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8. Appendices.
Appendix A: Questionnaire
1. Are you aged 16 or over?
Only participants aged 16 or over are invited to partake in this questionnaire.
yes
no
2. Please specify your gender
Male Female
3. Which option best describes your preferred handedness?
Please select one.
Left
Right
Ambidextrous
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4. Each item of this questionnaire is a statement that a person may either agree with or disagree with. For each item, indicate how much you agree or disagree with what the item says. Please respond to all the items; do not leave any blank. Choose only one response to each statement. Please be as accurate and honest as you can be. Respond to each item as if it were the only item. That is, don't worry about being "consistent" in your responses.
Choose from the following four response options:
Normal scale Inverted scale
1 = Very true for me 1= Very false for me2 = Somewhat true for me 2 = Somewhat false for me3 = Somewhat false for me 3 = Somewhat true for me4 = Very false for me 4 = Very true for me
1 2 3 4
A person's family is the most important thing in life.
Even if something bad is about to happen to me, I rarely experience fear or nervousness.
I go out of my way to get things I want.
When I'm doing well at something I love to keep at it.
I'm always willing to try something new if I think it will be fun.
How I dress is important to me.
When I get something I want, I feel excited and energized.
Criticism or scolding hurts me quite a bit.
When I want something I usually go all-out to get it.
I will often do things for no other reason than that they might be fun.
It's hard for me to find the time to do things such as get a haircut.
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MEASURING ANXIETY AND REVERSING THE SCALE
If I see a chance to get something I want I move on it right away.
I feel pretty worried or upset when I think or know somebody is angry at me.
When I see an opportunity for something I like I get excited right away.
I often act on the spur of the moment.
If I think something unpleasant is going to happen I usually get pretty "worked up."
I often wonder why people act the way they do.
When good things happen to me, it affects me strongly.
I feel worried when I think I have done poorly at something important.
I crave excitement and new sensations.
When I go after something I use a "no holds barred" approach.
I have very few fears compared to my friends.
It would excite me to win a contest.
I worry about making mistakes.
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5. Please indicate your preferences in the use of hands in the following activities. When the preference is so strong that you would never consider using the other hand, select the field marked 'always'. If in any case you are indifferent, please select the 'either' field. Some of the activities require both hands. In these cases, the part of the task, or object, for which hand preference is wanted is indicated in brackets. Please try to answer all of the questions, and only leave a blank if you have no experience at all of the object or task.
Always Left Mostly Left Either Mostly Right Always Right
Writing
Drawing
Throwing
Scissors
Toothbrush
Knife (without fork)
Spoon
Broom (upper hand)
Striking Match (match)
Opening Box (lid)
6. If you are a University of Chester Psychology student and would like to receive 2 RPS credits, please enter your identity code in the space provided.
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Appendix B: Participant information sheet
Handedness and Anxiety: Participant Information
You are being invited to take part in a postgraduate research investigation. The study that you
are being asked to participate in aims to examine handedness and anxiety. Please take time to
read this information sheet and consider whether or not you wish to take part.
What is the aim of the research? I am aiming to examine whether there is an association
between handedness and anxiety.
Why have I been chosen? You have been asked to participate as I aim to collect data from a
wide range of people.
What would I be asked to do if I took part? You would be asked to provide some
demographic details about yourself and to complete two questionnaires; one regarding
handedness, one regarding anxiety. These questionnaires are not diagnostic tools, but merely
designed to retrieve information.
What happens to the data collected? I will store your responses on a password protected,
secure laptop. If you do not complete the questionnaire, the data will be automatically
discarded by the software.
How is confidentiality maintained? There shall be no personal information required for the
completion of this survey. I will store your data anonymously. If you are a Psychology
student at the University of Chester, there will be opportunity to provide your identity code so
as I can allocate 2 RPS to you for completing this survey. This will not compromise your
anonymity, as I would be unable to identify your specific data among the completed
questionnaires. This will ensure I will not be able to trace your data back to you individually.
What happens if I do not want to take part or if I change my mind? There is no obligation to
participate in this study and you may leave a question unanswered if you do not wish to
answer it. You can stop the questionnaire at any time if you do not want to continue and your
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data will be destroyed. Once the questionnaire has been completed, you will be unable to
withdraw from the study, as I would be unable to determine which questionnaire was yours.
You would not be allowed to look through the other completed questionnaires to identify
your own as this would breach the confidentiality of the other participants.
How do I provide my consent for this study? Consent for participation of this study is
demonstrated by completion of the questionnaire.
Are there any risks involved in taking part? No obvious risks have been identified with
completing this questionnaire.
Are there any benefits of taking part? If you are part of the RPS system, you will receive two
credits for taking part. You may also find the experience interesting.
What is the duration of the research? The study will take a maximum of 20 minutes.
Will the outcomes of the research be published? I will collate and analysis your data for my
postgraduate dissertation project.
If you have any questions regarding this study, please contact myself – or Dissertation
Supervisor – Dr Paul Rodway at [email protected]. Alternatively, you can contact
Head of Psychology Department – Prof. Ros Bramwell at [email protected].
If you feel you have been affected by any issues concerning this questionnaire, please contact
Student Support and Guidance at [email protected], or 01244 511550.
Alternatively, you could speak to your GP or contact the Samaritans on 116 123.
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Appendix C: Participant debrief information
Debriefing
You have completed the survey. I would like to thank you for participating in my study, it is
highly appreciated. I hope that you have enjoyed taking part in this questionnaire and that it
has not raised any concerns or issues for you. The aim of this research is to examine if
handedness is related to levels of anxiety.
Should you wish to contact myself or my supervisor at any time regarding the present study,
please use the contact information provided below. If you have been affected by any part of
this questionnaire, please contact Student Support and Guidance at
[email protected], or 01244 511550. Alternatively, you could speak to your GP
or contact the Samaritans on 116 123.
Contact Information:
Researcher:
Supervisor: Paul Rodway [email protected]
Head of Psychology Department: Ros Bramwell [email protected]
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Appendix D: Ethics application form
WORKING TITLE: Handedness and Anxiety: Is there a difference when the scales are reversed?
A. Applicant & Personnel
Applicant: Email: @chester.ac.uk Tel: 07796070539Applicant status: Staff ☐ Postgraduate Research ☐ Postgraduate Taught x Undergraduate☐ Module Number:Click here to enter text.
Supervisor, if applicant is a student: Dr. Paul Rodway Email: [email protected]
Additional personnel 1:Click here to enter text. Email:Click here to enter text.Role: Click here to enter text. Tel: Click here to enter text.Additional personnel 2: Click here to enter text. Email:Click here to enter text.Role: Click here to enter text. Tel: Click here to enter text.Attach details of any additional personnel
B. SUBMISSION TYPE
1. What is the submission type? X First submission to this or any other committee☐Resubmission of a rejected application by this committeeAttach previous submissionSummarise the changes made to the application since it was last considered by this committee, with reference to the committee’s comments:Click here to enter text.☐First submission to this committee; has been submitted to another committee. Give details of the previous submission. Include committee name, date of submission and outcome. Click here to enter text.Attach previous submission Go to Section C☐Revised submission intended to replace an application approved by this committeeGive details of the previous submission date and any changes that have been made.Attach previous submissionClick here to enter text.
C. FUNDING
2. Is the project subject to external funding? X No Go to Section D☐YesIs funding secured?☐No Provide details: Click here to enter text.
☐Yes Funding body and mailing address:Click here to enter text.
Grant number, if applicable: Click here to enter text.Named PI:Click here to enter text.
D. NATURE OF RESEARCH
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UNIVERSITY OF CHESTER, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGYAPPLICATION FOR ETHICAL APPROVAL
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3. Are you a member of staff applying for approval for a student related research exercise? X No Go to Section E ☐Yes Module code and nameClick here to enter text.i. Will the student/s be collecting data unsupervised and outside of lecture/lab time ☐No Go to
Section E☐Yes Provide details of how ethical standards will be maintained Attach necessary documentation.Click
here to enter text.
E. RESEARCH PLAN & METHODOLOGY
Provide a detailed description of the proposed research. You should expect to write a paragraph on each section. Please note that there is a requirement to show that the project is well formulated in terms of drawing on relevant literature and is methodologically, analytically and scientifically sound.
4. Rationale/background (theoretical justification for conducting the research): Existing literature reports a link between left handedness and higher levels of anxiety than right handed people (Wright & Hardie, 2012; Beaton, Kaack & Corr, 2015). Investigations into state anxiety suggest that non-right handed people report higher behavioural inhibition than right handed people. This relationship has been examined by using the BIS/BAS scale (Carver & White, 1994). The literature also suggests that females are naturally more anxious than males (Wienrich, Wells & McManus, 1982). Other research suggests that handedness can influence spatial perception. Casasanto (2009) reports that right handed people associate the rightward spatial area with positivity and the leftward area with negativity, whereas this association is reversed for left handed people.
5. Aims and objectives (expected and desired outcomes of the research; expected impact of the research): The intention of this study is to examine whether left handed people exhibit more state anxiety than right handed people. A secondary goal is to analyse whether the direction of the scale of the BIS/BAS questionnaire will make a difference to the way in which participants answer.
6. Research questions/hypotheses (what you expect to learn): Based on prior research, it is hypothesised that left handed females will exhibit higher levels of state anxiety than the other participants. It is also hypothesised that the left handed participants will favour the items on the left side of the scale of the BIS/BAS questionnaire, whereas right handed participants will favour the items on the right, thus resulting in an observable difference when the scale is reversed.
7. Procedure (provide a summary of how you will conduct the research. More detailed responses should be given in the appropriate sections of the form, you may refer to them here):The method of data collection will be in the form of an online questionnaire, which will be created by esurvey. Participants will be presented with the information sheet which will allow them to make an informed choice on whether they wish to take
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part. If they choose to do so, the initial questions will collect demographic information, consisting of gender and hand preference. Participants will then be presented with the BIS/BAS questionnaire, followed by the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Oldfield, 1971). Participants who are psychology students at the University of Chester will enter their RPS identity code in the space provided after completing the questionnaire. Finally, participants will be presented with a debrief sheet, thanking them for their time and also reminding them of contact details for myself and supervisor. Please see appendix 1 for full questionnaire.
8. Proposed timetable for research (include deadlines for data collection and contingency plans) : Data collection will take six weeks, which will commence at the beginning of May and finish in June. This will allow sufficient time for data analysis and interpretation.
9. Describe any risk of physical harm or psychological distress to participants, however minor, in the recruitment process, during data collection or post data collection. Provide details of how you will minimise and manage any issues. You must include details of your debrief procedures here: There is a very low risk that participants will be affected by questionnaire material as it does not contain information of a sensitive nature. Participants do not have to partake in the questionnaire if they choose to decline after reading the information sheet. Participants are also able to stop the questionnaire at any time should they wish. Details of contact and support are provided at the beginning and end of the questionnaire.
10. Is there any deception involved in the study? X No ☐ Yes Justify use of deception and provide debrief details:
F. SAMPLE SIZE, PARTICIPANTS AND RECRUITMENT
If you are utilising internet mediated data collection methods you must consult the relevant guidelines, consider them in this section and make your procedure clear, particularly for questions 20-24.
11. Who do you intend to recruit for participation in your study?☐No recruitment ☐Pre-existing data ☐Media/online-media based research (eg: forums)☐Other Explain: Click here to enter text. X Human participants ☐Non-human animal subjects OR Both non-human animal subjects and human participantsIf during the course of the research the costs to the individual animal/s rose above that expected,
describe the point at which you would remove the animal from the research.Click here to enter text.
Once the animal has been removed from the research describe how any distress and harm caused will be dealt with. Click here to enter text.
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If you are working with both human and non-human animal participants and during the course of the research the costs to the individual animal/s rose above that expected and were removed from the research is there any likely distress caused to the human participant? Explain and give details of how you will minimise harm and distress:Click here to enter text.
☐Combination of the following: Check all that apply☐Pre-existing data ☐Media/online-media based ☐ Other Explain: Click here to enter text.☐Human participants ☐Non-human animal subjects OR Both non-human animal subjects and human participants
12. What is the sample size for your study? (If you are a UG or PGT student you should discuss this with your supervisor.. If you are using pre-existing data or online/media based research, give details of the type and size of sample eg: number of participants; number, type and extract length of interviews/case studies/articles/programmes/films). This study aims to include full data sets of one hundred participants, with at least thirty left handed people as part of the sample.
13. Was a statistical/power analysis conducted to determine the adequate sample?☐Yes give detailsClick here to enter text. X No describe how you determined the sample size (where appropriate you should refer to Section E)Sample size is based on prior research, such as Beaton, Kaack and Corr (2015) who tested ninety-two participants.
14. Where will the proposed recruitment and/or data collection take place?(If you are using pre-existing data/on line/media based research you should still indicate a location and consider related health and safety issues and issues of data protection and storage in relevant sections of this form).Check all that apply☐A University of Chester campus Give details: Click here to enter text. X Online (including RPS) Before you continue, consult BPS guidelines for internet mediated research and you must provide appropriate details in relevant sections. E.g. participant information; informed consent; withdrawal procedures etc. ☐Other site(s)Give details: Click here to enter text.
15. Have health and safety issues been adequately considered?Click here to enter text.☐I am a UG or PGT student using pre-existing data and I have attended the recommended health and safety briefing.☐YesOffice use only: Confirmation of attendance Y □ N □☐No Explain why & provide details of alternative arrangements & considerations Click here to enter text.X I am a UG or PGT student collecting data from human participants and/or non-human animal subjects and I have attended the recommended Health and Safety briefing.X YesConfirmation of attendance Y □ N □☐No Explain why and provide details of alternative arrangements and considerations Click here to enter text.☐I am a member of staff/PGR student and I have attached a risk assessment form. Attach suitable documentary evidence of permission. If you have not attached documentary evidence explain why. Click here to enter text.
16. Is permission to recruit potential participants/subjects required from an organisation other than the University of Chester? ☐Yes Explain: Click here to enter text.Attach suitable documentary evidence of permission. If you have
not attached documentary evidence explain why. Click here to enter text.
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X No Explain: I will not be recruiting from an organisation, other than University of Chester.
17. Will participants fall into any of the following special groups?
☐Schoolchildren (under 16 yrs of age) ☐People with learning or communication difficulties☐Patients/clients☐People in custody☐People engaged in illegal activities (e.g. drug-taking)If any of the above boxes are checked consult BPS guidelines on the protection of vulnerable persons. If you are a student, consult with your supervisor before continuing with your application.X None of the above Go to Q18
If you are working with vulnerable persons, ascertain whether it is necessary to obtain satisfactory DBS clearance (or equivalent for overseas students) for all applicants who will be in contact with vulnerable persons, then check one of the following:☐DBS clearance obtained and shown to supervisor. ☐DBS clearance is not necessary Explain: Click here to enter text.Attach suitable documentary evidence. If you have not attached evidence explain why:Click here to enter text.
18. Describe how your sample will be identified and how you obtained contact information. I am following the Ethics Guidelines for Recruiting via Social Media. I will be utilising Facebook. See appendix 2. I will also be advertising this survey on the RPS system.
19. Indicate the types of recruitment to be used and attach copies of all materials. If you have not attached evidence
explain why: See below and appendix 1 and 2. Check all that apply
Do you need permission to contact potential participants and/or display material?X No ☐Yes Explain and give details:Click here to enter text.
☐I am using pre-existing/online/on-line media based data Go to Section G☐I am using non-human animal subjects and I have completed Q18. Go to Section G☐I am using human and non-human animal subjects and I have completed Q18 and provided information below. X RPS Ensure you have the required number of credits ☐Letters/emails to potential participants X Social media Ensure you have consulted BPS guidelines for internet mediated research and you must provide appropriate details in relevant sections.☐Flyers/posters/brochures☐Verbal script (face-to-face or telephone recruitment)☐Websites☐Powerpoint presentation☐Newspaper/magazine advertisements ☐Radio/tv advertisements ☐OtherClick here to enter text.
20. Indicate if this research exclude any persons from the participation or analysis stage on the basis of:☐Gender ☐Ethnicity ☐Age ☐Sexual orientation ☐Mental health issues ☐Specific learning difficulties ☐Physical factors (e.g. physical ability, visual acuity, language/accent, handedness etc) ☐Other Click here to enter text.
a) If you are excluding any participants on the basis of any of the above categories, please justify their exclusion and discuss how any issues of distress and/or embarrassment
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arising from the exclusion will be minimised, monitored and managed during this process. Click here to enter text.
No exclusions apply X Go to Q21
21. Will potential participants be asked any screening questions to determine whether they will be recruited? X No Go to Q22☐Yes Explain and describe how you will minimise, monitor and manage any issues of distress and embarrassment: Click here to enter text.
22. How will informed consent be sought? Participant information sheet and completion of the questionnaire.
23. How will anonymity and confidentiality be maintained during recruitment and data collection? Participants will include no identifying information on their questionnaire. Participants hailing from the University of Chester will sign up for the questionnaire through the RPS system, who will then be sent a link for the survey. After completion, 2 RPS points will be assigned to the participant via their identity code - which only allows the researcher to allocate earned points - it does not allow any personal identifying information to be available to the researcher.
24. How will participants be able to withdraw from data collection? By not completing the questionnaire.
Is there a time limit for withdrawal? Explain: Yes, withdrawal after completion of the questionnaire will not be possible as I will not know which data set belongs to which participant. What will happen to any partially collected data? Explain: It will be disregarded by the software.
25. What is the time commitment expected of participants? A maximum of twenty minutes, including ethics processes and debriefing.
26. Indicate the type and amount of compensation participants will receive. ☐None Amount value: Click here to enter text.. ☐Money: ☐Gift certificate: ☐Travel Expenses: X Other: Explain: 2 RPS credits, if registered for RPS. Gratitude if not.
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27. Indicate where the following information will be available to participants. Attach documentary evidence.
Check all that apply.
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N/A
Brief details about the purpose of the study x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Contact details for further information x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Explanation of how and why participant has been chosen x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Notification that materials/interviews are not diagnostic tools/therapy or used for staff review/development purposes
x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Explanation participation is voluntary x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Details of any incentives or compensation x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Details of how consent will be obtained x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
If research is observational, consent to being observed ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ x
Details of procedure so participants are informed about what to expect
x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Details of time commitments expected x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Details of any stimuli used x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Explanation of right to withdraw and right to withdraw procedure
x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Option for omitting questions participant does not wish to answer
x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Procedure regarding partially completed questionnaires or interviews
x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
With interviews, information regarding time limit for withdrawal
x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Details of any advantages and benefits of taking part x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Details of any disadvantages and risks of taking part x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Information that data will be treated with full confidentiality and that, if published, those data will not be identifiable as theirs
x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Debriefing details x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Dissemination information x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
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Further information (relevant literature; support networks etc)
x ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
If you have checked n/a for any of the above, provide further details: My research is not observational. There are no disadvantages for the participant to partake in this study. Debriefing details are included on the debrief sheet at the end of the questionnaire. Please see appendix 1.
Ensure you have provided further details regarding the above in the relevant sections of the form and attached any necessary documentation. If you have not attached the necessary documentation explain why:
G. DATA COLLECTION
28. Indicate the types of data collection methods that will be used Attach copies of all materials (where appropriate
Check all that apply
☐I am using pre-existing data and have indicated all the original methods of data collection below. X Online/online-media based research answer 28(a) and (b)☐Observations Diaries/Journals completed by researcher attach any instructions given to participants and any multi-media stimuli answer 28(a) and (b)☐Observations Diaries/Journals completed by participants attach any instructions given to participant and any multi-media stimuli answer 28(a) and (b) X Questionnaires/Surveys attach version of questionnaire that will be used in study, answer 28(a) and (b)
☐Individual interviews attach list of questions/topics and any multi-media stimuli, answer 28(a) and (b)☐Focus groups attach list of questions/topics and any multi-media stimuli, answer 28(a) and (b)☐Biological specimens (e.g. blood, urine)Go to Q29☐Biomedical devices (e.g. Biopac)Go to Q29☐Cognitive measures (e.g. Reaction time, accuracy, recognition) attach copies of stimuli and answer 28 (a) and (b☐Multimedia stimuli attach original material (where appropriate) URL links or other relevant information and answer 28 (a) and (b)☐Video/DVD ☐Online/video gaming footage ☐Web sites/On-line forums☐Written text (e.g. newspapers, magazine, books, transcriptions, scenarios, vignettes)☐Audio (e.g. radio broadcasts, recordings) ☐Still images☐Stimuli made from recordings of other persons that are not in the public domain (e.g. personal photographs, video/audio recordings) If stimuli are identifiable, obtain consent for their use attach evidence of consent
a) Does the content of the material contain anything that could cause distress or alarm and/or involve sex, violence, substance abuse, profanity, impudence or other types of mature content? Fully consider the suitability of the stimuli and the possible impact on the participant/researcher attach original material (where appropriate) URL links or other relevant information l X NoBriefly describe the content: The questionnaire consists of the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Oldfield, 1971) and Carver and White's (1994) BIS/BAS questionnaire. See appendix 1.
☐Yes Is the material from a source that has been given a universally acceptable certification OR has the source been considered by an appropriate agency with regard to suitability for audiences in terms of its ability to cause distress or alarm and/or in terms of content issues involving sex, violence, substance abuse, profanity, impudence and other types of mature content? (eg: material used by multi national media
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organisations and widely accessible by general audiences)☐Yes Provide details and justify the use of the material. Explain how your will minimise, monitor and manage any issues of distress to the participant and/or researcherClick here to enter text.☐No/not sure Explain, provide details and justify the use of the material. Explain how you will minimise, monitor and manage any issues of distress to the participant and/or researcher.
b) Once data collection is complete what action will be taken to ensure that participants and/or researchers leave the research in a positive frame of mind? Participants will be thanked again for their participation, told the nature of the study and informed of where to find further support and information.
29. How will you collect your data? Check all that apply☐ I am conducting an experiment Provide full procedural details Click here to enter text.☐I am using observations/diaries/journals Provide full procedural details Click here to enter text. X I am conducting surveys/interviews/focus groups Provide full procedural details The method of data collection will be in the form of an online questionnaire. Participants will be presented with the information sheet which will allow them to make an informed choice on whether they wish to take part. If they choose to do so, the initial questions will collect demographic information, consisting of gender and hand preference. Participants will then be presented with the BIS/BAS questionnaire, followed by the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Oldfield, 1971). Should the participant hail from the University of Chester's Psychology Department, they will be provided with a space in which to enter their identity code, which will allow me to correctly allocate RPS points after submitting their completed questionnaire. Finally, participants will be presented with a debrief sheet, thanking them for their time and also reminding them of contact details for myself and supervisor. Please see appendix 1 for full questionnaire. X I am conducting internet based research Provide full procedural details See above. Additionally, the website used to create the questionnaire is found at https://www.esurveycreator.co.uk☐ I am conducting media based research Provide full procedural details Click here to enter text.☐ I am using pre-existing data. Provide full details of how the data was originally collected making specific reference to key ethical considerations of management of harm & distress, consent, anonymity & confidentialityClick here to enter text.
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30. Will you make any recordings of human participants?(interview/focus groups, observations, images of participants' bodies)☐YesGo to question 31 X No Go to section H
31. What will be recorded? Check all that apply☐Interview ☐Focus Group ☐Images of participants’ bodies ☐Observations ☐Other Explain: Click here to enter text.
32. How will the data be recorded? Check all that apply☐Video ☐Audio ☐Photographs ☐Written transcripts ☐Other Explain: Click here to enter text.
33. Can participants’ identities be determined from the recording? (If the recording is a facial photograph/video or audio recording of a voice, the correct answer is ‘yes’.)☐ No☐ Yes Describe how you will protect privacy and anonymity during transcription and analysis. Click here to enter text.
34. Will the recordings be destroyed? NOTE: Participants must consent to their recordings being retained/archived.☐ Yes Explain how and when Click here to enter text.☐No Justify retaining the recordings and attach evidence of consent: Click here to enter text.
35. Will the recordings be used outside of this research study? NOTE: Participants must consent to all outside uses of their recordings.☐Yes Answer Question 36and attach evidence of consent
☐No Go to Section H
36. How will the recordings be used outside of this research study? Check all that apply☐ Shared with other researchers not listed on this application: Explain: Click here to enter text.☐ Used for research dissemination (conferences, journals, media publications, consultancy)Click here to enter text.☐ Used for educational purposes (e.g. training, teaching): Explain: Click here to enter text.☐ Used within a commercial/public organisation: Explain: Click here to enter text.☐ OtherExplain: Click here to enter text.
37. When the recordings are used outside of this research study, will they contain identifiable information (e.g. names, facial photographs/video, unmodified voices)?☐No☐Yes
Will disclosure of participants’ identity outside this research study reasonably place participants at risk for criminal or civic liability or be damaging to participants’ financial standing, employability or reputation?
☐Yes Explain why it is necessary to disclose participants’ identity: Click here to enter text.
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☐ No Go to Section H
H. DATA ANALYSIS
38. Describe your methods of data analysis: A between subjects quantitative survey will be conducted, with the independent variables being; handedness (left/right), gender (male/female), and the direction of scale (rightward/leftward). The dependent variable will be the anxiety scores as measured by the BIS/BAS scale. Data will be analysed using a 2x2x2 unrelated Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), with the alpha level set at 0.05.
I. DATA PROTECTION AND STORAGE
39. Where and in what form will the research materials be stored? Describe fully the storage process during collection, analysis and archiving and consider issues of security.: Data will be stored electronically on my personal, password protected laptop. There will be no identifying information in the electronic data file.
40. Will the research materials be destroyed on completion of the project?
☐YesExplain how and when: Click here to enter text. X No Explain why the materials need to be maintained: The data needs to be stored indefinitely.
41. Will the research materials include any identifying information (e.g. names, telephone numbers)?
X No ☐YesDescribe the type of information and justify why it will be retained:Click here to enter text. Will the identifying information be deleted?
☐Yes State when and justify the retention of the information until this time: Click here to enter text.☐ No Justify the retention of the information: Click here to enter text.
J. DISSEMINATION42. How will the research results be shared?
X Academic assessment (e.g. dissertation; assignment report) Explain and give details: Research Dissertation for PS7112☐Academic dissemination (e.g. Journal publication; conferences) (If you are an UG or PGT student you must
discuss this with your supervisor before checking this box).Explain and give details:Click here to enter text.☐Non-Academic dissemination (e.g. printed/online article) (If you are an UG or PGT student you must discuss this with your supervisor before checking this box).Explain and give details:Click here to enter text.☐Academic learning & teaching (e.g. class based research exercise) Explain and give details:Click here
to enter text.
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☐Consultancy (If you are an UG or PGT student you must discuss this with your supervisor before checking this box).Explain and give details:Click here to enter text.☐Commercial/public sector. (If you are an UG or PGT student you must discuss this with your supervisor before
checking this box).Explain and give details:Click here to enter text.☐Other (If you are an UG or PGT student you must discuss this with your supervisor before checking this box).Explain and give details:Click here to enter text.
43. How will privacy and confidentiality be maintained during dissemination? All data are anonymous, so there will be nil chance of personal disclosure.
44. Are there any specific considerations about sharing the research? (eg: Is the data from friends and family and potentially embarrassing/upsetting for someone who reads it? Is the data relating to employee satisfaction/wellbeing and likely to be seen by senior staff?).No.
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YOU HAVE NOW COMPLETED THE APPLICATION FORM. PLEASE READ AND SIGN THE FOLLOWING DECLARATION:
I confirm that I have familiarised myself with the regulatory codes and codes of conduct and ethics relevant to my area of research, including those of relevant professional organisations and ensure that the research which I propose is designed to comply with such codes. I have familiarised myself with the following:Department of Psychology Ethical Approval for Research: Procedural Guidelines.University of Chester Research Governance Handbook BPS Code of Ethics BPS Code of Human Research EthicsBPS Guidelines for Internet-mediated Research BPS Research Guidelines and Policy Documents
I confirm I understand that:All applications must be submitted according to the guidelines set out, assessed by at least 2 reviewers and are subject to discussion by departmental ethics committee. Data collection is not permitted until applications have been approved. Collecting data without ethical approval is a serious breach of the BPS Code of Ethics.Any change of plans to the research after the approval MUST be discussed by ethics committee. chair’s action may be taken for minor changes.
Print the completed form off onto BLUE paper with the appendices on white paper. Handwritten applications are not accepted. Submit to the department office by the agreed deadline. Applications submitted after this deadline will not be processed until the following committee meeting. If you are a member of staff or a PGR student, in addition to 2 paper copies you MUST submit an electronic version to [email protected].
DATE: 21/03/2016
PRINT NAME:
SIGNATURE:_________________________________________________________
NOTES ON THE ROLE AND FUNCTION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY ETHICS COMMITTEE. All decisions of the committee are based on the application form and reviewers comments ONLY.
Forms should be as detailed and clear as possible. Verbal discussions are not considered as part of the application or review process.
The review process strictly adheres to the University of Chester Research Governance Handbook and the BPS Code of Ethics.
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The decision of the committee is final. If you are a UG, PGT or PGR student you should discuss the decision of the committee with your supervisor. If you are a member of staff you may contact the chair of the committee for further clarification.
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Appendix 1
Handedness and Anxiety Questionnaire
Handedness and Anxiety: Participant Information
You are being invited to take part in a postgraduate research investigation. The study that
you are being asked to participate in aims to examine handedness and anxiety. Please take
time to read this information sheet and consider whether or not you wish to take part.
What is the aim of the research? I am aiming to examine whether there is an association
between handedness and anxiety.
Why have I been chosen? You have been asked to participate as I aim to collect data from a
wide range of people.
What would I be asked to do if I took part? You would be asked to provide some
demographic details about yourself and to complete two questionnaires; one regarding
handedness, one regarding anxiety. These questionnaires are not diagnostic tools, but
merely designed to retrieve information.
What happens to the data collected? I will store your responses on a password protected,
secure laptop. If you do not complete the questionnaire, the data will be automatically
discarded by the software.
How is confidentiality maintained? There shall be no personal information required for the
completion of this survey. I will store your data anonymously. If you are a Psychology
student at the University of Chester, there will be opportunity to provide your identity code so
as I can allocate 2 RPS to you for completing this survey. This will not compromise your
anonymity, as I would be unable to identify your specific data among the completed
questionnaires. This will ensure I will not be able to trace your data back to you individually.
What happens if I do not want to take part or if I change my mind? There is no obligation to
participate in this study and you may leave a question unanswered if you do not wish to
answer it. You can stop the questionnaire at any time if you do not want to continue and your
data will be destroyed. Once the questionnaire has been completed, you will be unable to
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withdraw from the study, as I would be unable to determine which questionnaire was yours.
You would not be allowed to look through the other completed questionnaires to identify your
own as this would breach the confidentiality of the other participants.
How do I provide my consent for this study? Consent for participation of this study is
demonstrated by completion of the questionnaire.
Are there any risks involved in taking part? No obvious risks have been identified with
completing this questionnaire.
Are there any benefits of taking part? If you are part of the RPS system, you will receive two
credits for taking part. You may also find the experience interesting.
What is the duration of the research? The study will take a maximum of 20 minutes.
Will the outcomes of the research be published? I will collate and analysis your data for my
postgraduate dissertation project.
If you have any questions regarding this study, please contact myself – or Dissertation
Supervisor – Dr Paul Rodway at [email protected]. Alternatively, you can contact
Head of Psychology Department – Prof. Ros Bramwell at [email protected].
If you feel you have been affected by any issues concerning this questionnaire, please
contact Student Support and Guidance at [email protected], or 01244 511550.
Alternatively, you could speak to your GP or contact the Samaritans on 116 123.
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1. Are you aged 16 or over?
Only participants aged 16 or over are invited to partake in this questionnaire.
yes
no
If the participant answers no, they will be directed to the end of the survey.
2. Please specify your gender
Male Female
3. Which option best describes your preferred handedness?
Please select one.
Left
Right
Ambidextrous
If the participant identifies as left handed, they will be directed to question 4. If they identify
as right handed, they will be directed to question 5. This direction will be switched half way
through data collection to provide a sample of both right and left handers for each scale
direction.
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4. This question is open to the self-identified left handed and ambidextrous participants
for the first part of data collection.
Each item of this questionnaire is a statement that a person may either agree with or
disagree with. For each item, indicate how much you agree or disagree with what the item
says. Please respond to all the items; do not leave any blank. Choose only one response to
each statement. Please be as accurate and honest as you can be. Respond to each item as
if it were the only item. That is, don't worry about being "consistent" in your responses.
Choose from the following four response options:
1 = Very true for me
2 = Somewhat true for me
3 = Somewhat false for me
4 = Vary false for me
1 2 3 4A person's family is the most important thing in life.
Even if something bad is about to happen to me, I rarely experience fear or nervousness.I go out of my way to get things I want.
When I'm doing well at something I love to keep at it.
I'm always willing to try something new if I think it will be fun.
How I dress is important to me.
When I get something I want, I feel excited and energized.
Criticism or scolding hurts me quite a bit.
When I want something I usually go all-out to get it.
I will often do things for no other reason than that they might be fun.It's hard for me to find the time to do things such as get a haircut.If I see a chance to get something I want I move on it right away.I feel pretty worried or upset when I think or know somebody is angry at me.When I see an opportunity for something I like I get excited right away.I often act on the spur of the moment.
If I think something unpleasant is going to happen I usually get pretty "worked up."I often wonder why people act the way they do.
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When good things happen to me, it affects me strongly.
I feel worried when I think I have done poorly at something important.I crave excitement and new sensations.
When I go after something I use a "no holds barred" approach.I have very few fears compared to my friends.
It would excite me to win a contest.
I worry about making mistakes.
5. This question is the same question as page 5, but with the scale reversed. This
question is open to self-identified right handed participants for the first half of data
collection. Availability of this question will switch for the second half of data collection
to provide a sample of both scales for both left and right handers alike.
1 = Very false for me
2 = Somewhat false for me
3 = Somewhat true for me
4 = Very true for me
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6. Please indicate your preferences in the use of hands in the following activities. When
the preference is so strong that you would never consider using the other hand,
select the field marked 'always'. If in any case you are indifferent, please select the
'either' field.
Some of the activities require both hands. In these cases, the part of the task, or
object, for which hand preference is wanted is indicated in brackets.
Please try to answer all of the questions, and only leave a blank if you have no
experience at all of the object or task.
Always Left Mostly Left Either Mostly Right Always Right
Writing
Drawing
Throwing
Scissors
Toothbrush
Knife (without fork)
Spoon
Broom (upper
hand)
Striking Match
(match)
Opening Box (lid)
7. If you are a University of Chester Psychology student and would like to receive 2
RPS credits, please enter your identity code in the space provided.
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Debriefing
You have completed the survey. I would like to thank you for participating in my study, it is
highly appreciated. I hope that you have enjoyed taking part in this questionnaire and that it
has not raised any concerns or issues for you. The aim of this research is to examine if
handedness is related to levels of anxiety.
Should you wish to contact myself or my supervisor at any time regarding the present study,
please use the contact information provided below. If you have been affected by any part of
this questionnaire, please contact Student Support and Guidance at
[email protected], or 01244 511550. Alternatively, you could speak to your GP
or contact the Samaritans on 116 123.
Contact Information:
Researcher:
Supervisor: Paul Rodway [email protected]
Head of Psychology Department: Ros Bramwell [email protected]
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Appendix 2
Recruiting Participants via Social Media.
Facebook will be the chosen social media site for recruiting participants.
The link to the questionnaire will be posted alongside the message advertising it because
there are no materials of a sensitive nature included in the questionnaire. This will allow me
to gather more data sets as participants will be more likely to partake if the link is there, as
messaging me directly for the link not only takes more effort, meaning that only a certain
type of person will participate (Cozby & Bates, 2012), but they may also be concerned about
anonymity compromises.
The message used to advertise my questionnaire will read as follow:
Hello. I am a postgraduate Psychology student conducting research for my
dissertation. I am aiming to examine whether there is an association
between handedness and anxiety. This questionnaire should take no more
than twenty minutes to complete. The link is below should you wish to take
part. Thank you in advance.
I will ensure that my sample is aged 16 and over by including a check box on the
questionnaire that will only allow them to continue if they confirm they are 16 or over. Should
participants answer no to the question of being 16 or over, the survey will direct them to the
end of the questionnaire.
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Appendix E: Ethics amendment form
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Appendix F: SPSS outputs – CD attached to rear cover
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