"Similarly, you can test your ears: which ear would you naturally use on the telephone?"
Well, I'm right-handed, so...
Well, I'm right-handed, so...
Phones used to be small enough that you could use them one-handed, and I still tend try. The only grips I use are one-handed or equally split between two hands, like holding a vertical video game controller. I never use a phone in the way you describe, except maybe to rarely to hit a single button that's out of reach. I tend to rock it in my hand to reach with my thumb.
Have I ever told you I think all phones are slightly too big now?
If I went to listen up against a door, it would depend on other things which ear I used, like which ear might already be closer to the door.
Come to think of it, if I'm doing something else at the same time - such as, of course, writing - I will hold the phone to my left ear with my left hand. Whichever way, in my case, it has little to do with my hearing.
a doctor once observed i tend to do "fine motor skills" (e.g. handwriting) left-handed but "large motor skills" (e.g. swinging a baseball bat) right-handed.