Several studies have demonstrated that women believe they are more prone to left–right confusion than men.However, while some studies report that there is also a sex difference in LRC tasks favouring men, others report that men and women perform equally well.Recently, it was suggested that sex differences only emerge in LRC tasks when they involve mental rotation.To test this assumption, a team of biopsychologists from Durham University (Durham, England) together with biopsychologists from Bochum tested 91 participants with two LRC tasks.To rule out the possibility that sex differences in LRC are confounded by sex differences in mental rotation, male and female participants were matched for mentalrotation performance. These matched participants showed robust sex differences in favour of men in all LRC measurements.

Ocklenburg, S., Hirnstein, M., Ohmann, H. A., Hausmann, M. (2011). Mental rotation does not account for sex differences in left–right confusion. Brain and Cognition, 76, 166-171.