A recent study published in Scientific Reports sheds light on the social benefits of biases in human behavior. The study indicates that aligning our biases with others may have advantages, just as animals exhibit behavioral biases that are not unique to our species.
One such bias identified in the study is the visual field bias, where a significant portion of the population demonstrates a preference for recognizing identities and emotions on one side of their visual field compared to the other. This bias is believed to develop in early childhood and has been found to impact performance, regardless of its specific direction (left or right).
Interestingly, it was discovered that aligning with the majority in these biases may provide social advantages, similar to how animals that align with groups during cooperative behavior are less likely to be targeted by predators. However, individuals with a standard bias (right-handedness for motor tasks and left visual field bias for face processing) were not necessarily better socially but those with a reversed bias (left-handedness for motor tasks and right visual field bias for face processing) were found to have more social difficulties and higher rates of autism or ADHD diagnoses.
The study does not establish a causal relationship between the reversed bias and autism or ADHD but suggests potential further research into bias profiles as early markers for these conditions. Overall, this research highlights the impact of biases on social interactions and the potential benefits of aligning with the majority in certain biases.