Do you think you're creatively right-brained or logically left-brained? Take this test to find out how much of each side you lean toward!
Do you tend to follow a hunch or work through a problem step by step? This self-check uses 20 questions about everyday thinking and behavior to show the balance between two familiar thinking styles.
Answer questions about decisions, ideas and planning.
View the proportions of right-brained and left-brained tendencies in your answers.
Explore your result and the characteristics associated with both styles.
Here, “right-brained” and “left-brained” are informal labels for thinking styles. This test does not measure brain activity or which hemisphere you use more.
“Right-brained” commonly describes an intuitive, image-led approach, while “left-brained” describes a logical, step-by-step approach. The characteristics below summarize these popular labels. They do not mean that one side of the brain determines your personality or abilities.
A tendency to explore ideas through impressions, intuition and the bigger picture.
A tendency to work through ideas using words, evidence and a clear sequence.
When planning a trip, you might imagine a landscape you want to see, then check your budget and travel times. These approaches can work together within the same person; they are not mutually exclusive abilities.
Scenery, atmosphere and experiences
Budget, timing and travel steps
This diagram compares approaches to thinking. It does not map brain regions or the flow of information in the brain.
The percentages summarize tendencies within this questionnaire. They are not measurements of brain usage, intelligence or talent.
Similar percentages mean your answers show a smaller difference between the two tendencies. A higher percentage for one does not mean you cannot use the other approach.
Your results include percentages, an explanation of your result and characteristics associated with both styles. Consider which descriptions fit you, including how your approach changes with the situation.
The brain has two hemispheres, and some functions show differences between them. These functional differences are distinct from dividing people into “creative right-brain types” and “logical left-brain types.”
A 2013 study of resting-state brain connectivity in 1,011 people did not support the idea that individuals are globally left-brain or right-brain dominant. Equating creativity with the right hemisphere and logic with the left is too simple an account of how the brain works.
This test is an informal way to reflect on your thinking preferences. It is not a medical assessment or a measure of brain function, career suitability or ability.
There is no shared scientific standard for assigning the population to these two personality categories. Claims that most people are left-brained, or that schooling makes people left-brained, are not established by this distinction. Handedness alone does not determine either style, and your test percentages do not represent population percentages.
Nielsen, J. A., et al. (2013). PLOS ONE, 8(8), e71275.
