# Exploring Body‐Specific Associations in Swipe Gestures: A Study on Hand Dominance and Emotional Valence

## TL;DR

This study explores how hand dominance and emotional responses are linked through swiping gestures on digital devices.

## Contribution

The research demonstrates how digital gestures can influence emotional valence judgments based on hand dominance.

## Key findings

- Right-handed participants were faster in congruent swiping tasks aligned with the Body-Specificity Hypothesis.
- Left-handed participants showed stronger emotional valence judgments in congruent tasks.
- Results support the Body-Specificity Hypothesis in the context of digital interaction.

## Abstract

The Body‐Specificity Hypothesis suggests that the area around the dominant hand is perceived positively, contrasting with a negative perception around the non‐dominant hand. Given the pervasive use of interactive technologies, our study aimed to investigate body‐specific associations in real‐world settings, examining whether these are modulated by mainstream digital gestures like swiping. N = 30 right‐handed participants (Experiment 1) and N = 30 left‐handed participants (Experiment 2) were asked to make valence judgements on 28 valence‐laden images on a tablet, with each hand in separate sessions, engaging in a congruent task (swipe towards the dominant side—positive, swipe towards the non‐dominant side—negative) and an incongruent task (the opposite response pattern). Following the valence judgement task, participants assessed the intensity of their responses using a 9‐point Likert scale. Results indicated that right‐handers were faster in the congruent condition than in the incongruent condition and showed faster responses when swiping for negative images with the non‐dominant hand. Left‐handed participants did not show differences in response times but evaluated images as more positive/negative in the congruent condition compared to the incongruent. Overall, these findings support the Body‐Specificity Hypothesis and underscore the importance of considering the embodied‐cognition‐framework as susceptible to the influence of technology use.