Link: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jun/10/humans-prefer-to-walk-anticlockwise-scientists-find-reason-unclear

I got this information from an Instagram reel but ig refreshed and I lost the link before I could save it, so I googled the phenomenon and got an article that talks about it instead. The reel said that it happens in a lot of small things we don't think about like bumper cars, ice skating, most motorsports, mosh pits, etc.

The counterclockwise favoring has even been found in some animals too!

It's clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern.

My assumption for this would be that the majority of humans are right-side dominant. So they tend to lead with their right foot and their right leg is probably stronger meaning they tend to take marginally larger steps on the right leading to a counterclockwise gait

Similarly to the OP, I was told in Boy Scouts that if you're lost in the woods you need to stay where you are because if you do try to walk out you'll likely just go in circles and be harder to find

That could be more likely than you'd think considering this 2024 Ig Nobel prize winning research.

They tell you to stay put so that the bears don't have to walk as far for their meal

Yeah, they interviewed someone who talked about this on NPR the other day. Neat little tidbit.

The article didn't mention this, but the reel mentioned a study that left handed people had approximately the same rate of counterclockwise dominance as right handed people

https://youtu.be/QXouoMDOnos

If im not mistaken, going counterclockwise means going toward your left.

Oh interesting, I wonder if the cause is something else then? I do know a lot of left handed people end up learning how to do some physical activities right handed because it's easier but I doubt that would be enough to make their right leg stronger

And your random British-ism of the week... its not "counterclockwise", it's "anticlockwise". Just saying.

Counter clockwise is the service you get at the horologists.

No, not deosil (sunwise)! Widdershins!!

Also if you blindfold us and tell us to keep walking "forwards", we naturally start walking in big circles!

Go even more British and use windershins instead!

Studies show that when people walk into a store, they automatically move to the right (counterclockwise). That's why stores put their sale and more profitable items to the right side.

My grocery store, has the sale items and the pharmacy, then the the deli, then the produce section, all to the right when you first walk in.

Really? I learned that people tend to walk toward whichever their dominant side is.

Given how far behind America is that might be contemporary.

Holy shit! I just realised I walk the dog around the streets in my area in a counterclockwise direction at least 90% of the time.

I always assumed this was because we are conditioned to travel on the right side of a path/road in the US, since that's how we drive. At times when I'm walking more than driving, I meander around the sidewalk, but when I'm driving more, I stick to the right.

I think it’s because most people are right handed, often landing harder on their opposing foot, leading to a “rightward” bias, or counterclockwise.

It’s an issue with orienteering where people tend to walk in circles, even when trying to keep a straight line. This is where dead reckoning pays dividends.

Yep, this was my experience working in retail as well. They flat out told us this was the reason why we merchandised stores the way we did. The more commonly purchased items started to the right of the store doors and went in a circle to the less commonly purchased items.

Door > mobile phones > computers > home entertainment (tvs and such) > appliances

All of the other commonly purchased stuff was in the center of the store.

That would be a leftward bias, a person constantly turning slightly left - which is CCW.

Turning right is clockwise.

someone further down linked a paper, and I think I found the answer?

‘For example, the reason for this tendency toward directional walking is diversely attributable to (1) an inapt spiraling mechanism in the nervous system that is used in the absence of vision (Guldberg, 1897; Schaeffer, 1928), (2) biomechanicsand sensorial asymmetries, particularly hand and foot laterality (Day & Goins, 1999; Scharine & McBeath, 2002), (3) otolith system asymmetry from the fetal position (Previc & Saucedo, 1992), (4) hemispheric asymmetry of the dopaminergic system (Mohr, Landis, Bracha, Fathi, & Brugger, 2003; Mohr, Brugger, Bracha, Landis, & Viaud-Delmon, 2004; Mohr & Lievesley, 2007), and (5) sensorial signal interference, in which acoustic signals, such as unpredictable noises, and postural signals can lead to greater directional deviance (Millar, 1999).’

so you are partially right. also sorry for the way that pasted, I have no idea why. I’ll add a screenshot.

I wonder if the earth were flat would we walk straight?

Personally I think it's the product of lizard person mind control trying to trick us into making crop circles so we conclude that the real threat are aliens from outer space. Well joke's on you, lizards! I know you're down there, and I'm gonna minecraft my way right down and mess up all your vile plans!

... oh, um. If you're serious, I doubt it. The earth can be made locally flat, we do that all the time for buildings and the like.

Right handed people are typically left brain dominant.

Turning left would protect the left brain.

The Mythbusters demonstrated this

https://mythresults.com/walk-a-straight-line

This explains NASCAR.

Widdershins/withershins, no?

Not when viewed from under the ground. I mean, come on!

/s

Team wall clockwise represent!

i mean if i sit really really still i swear i can feel spin in my brain. mine is clockwise. not sure what that means, but my wife always backs a different way out the driveway than i do.

What if you're left handed?

The finding held when the researchers accounted for people being right-handed, right-footed and right-eye dominant, and was seen in both male and female walkers.

Combined with it having been demonstrated in other animals, I sorta wonder if it is ingrained somewhere close to a DNA level. All known life on earth has the same handedness to their DNA (left) even though it is physically/chemically possible to have DNA strands that are righthanded. I wonder if the handedness of the DNA strands have any impact on results in emergent properties that impact the natural trend around macro-scale drifting while moving.

You learn by force of collective, like handing hands with the right one

Buddy, nothing can explain nascar