Researchers in Spain and Japan tested a broad range of pedestrians in varying group sizes to see whether there were any patterns to their turning behaviors, and what factors influence them if there are. It turns out that the vast majority of people have a preference for counterclockwise turning. Most factors such as culture or gender made little difference. Only age showed a noticeable but small change in that younger people followed this pattern more strongly. This area of research could impact our understanding of the brain, and fields like design, engineering and architecture. The original research, including the initial experiments and analysis, was conducted by the Department of Physics and Mathematics at the University of Navarra in Spain, with additional comparative experiments later carried out in Japan in collaboration with the University of Tokyo team.

Researchers report a "serendipitous" discovery while watching videos of crowds: an inexplicable bias toward counterclockwise turning that may be rooted in biology.

Researchers in Spain and Japan tested a broad range of pedestrians in varying group sizes to see whether there were any patterns to their turning behaviors, and what factors…

You walk into an art gallery, museum, or shopping centre - which way do you turn? According to a new study, the answer is probably left.