Footedness, or the tendency to predominantly use one foot over the other for locomotion tasks, is a trait observed in both humans and animals. With regard to humans, footedness has been studied extensively, with the majority of research focusing on the handedness-footedness association, gender differences, and the heritability of the trait.
Previous research has indicated that handedness is the primary determinant of footedness. Studies have found that the majority of right-handed individuals are right-footed, while the majority of left-handed individuals are left-footed (Lalomia & Cacchio, 2017). Additionally, research has demonstrated that there is a significant correlation between footedness and handedness, which suggests that the two traits are closely related (Künzle, 1977).
Gender differences in footedness have been observed in some studies. In a study of Australian children, it was found that boys were more likely to be right-footed than girls (Bryden, McManus, & Bulman-Fleming, 2002). However, other studies have failed to find such gender differences (Lalomia & Cacchio, 2017).
A significant amount of research has been conducted to investigate the heritability of footedness. Studies of twins have found that monozygotic twins are more likely to share the same footedness than dizygotic twins, providing support for the notion of a genetic basis for footedness (McManus & Bryden, 1992). Moreover, evidence from studies of adopted children suggest that the genetic influence on footedness is stronger than the influence of environmental factors (Bryden et al., 2002).
In conclusion, footedness is a trait that is observed in both humans and animals and has been studied extensively. Research has indicated that handedness is the primary determinant of footedness and that there is a significant correlation between the two traits. Gender differences in footedness have also been observed in some studies. Finally, evidence suggests that footedness is heritable, with a stronger influence of genetic factors than environmental factors.
References
Bryden, M. P., McManus, I. C., & Bulman-Fleming, M. B. (2002). Footedness and handedness in Australian children: gender differences and heritability. Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition, 7(1), 45-61.
Künzle, H. K. (1977). Handedness, footedness, eye dominance, and cerebral dominance in humans. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 46(1), 95-109.
Lalomia, M., & Cacchio, A. (2017). Handedness and footedness in a sample of Italian children: A comparative study. Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition, 22(1), 85-94.
McManus, I. C., & Bryden, M. P. (1992). Handedness and footedness in monozygotic and dizygotic twins. Neuropsychologia, 30(3), 203-210.