When You Ask a Favor, Choose the Right Ear

Whether you’re asking for a raise or trying to snag a phone number, address your request to the right. We’re more likely to listen to what someone has to say if the person is speaking into our right ear, according to new research. Findings indicate that our right ears may actually hear better and help brains process information more quickly.

In a series of three studies, Italian researchers Luca Tommasi and Daniele Marzoli observed the right ear preference in a noisy discotheque setting. In the first study, 286 clubbers were monitored while they were talking with loud music in the background. Seventy-two percent of interactions took place on the right side of the listener, indicating that side bias occurs on a regular basis beyond the laboratory.

In the second study, researchers mumbled an inaudible, meaningless question at 160 clubbers and observed whether the listeners offered their right or left ear in response. Fifty-eight percent offered their right and 42 percent their left. In the third study, researchers intentionally addressed 176 clubbers in either their right or left ear when asking for a cigarette. They were given significantly more cigarettes when they spoke to the clubbers’ right ear.

The researchers’ findings are a significant step in a field where research is often conducted within the laboratory. Few published studies address ear dominance in daily human behavior.

AUTHOR: Annette Hulbert