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Health

23rd May 2019

Women work better in a warm office so crank up the heating, gals

Jade Hayden

women work better warm office

Too warm, boys? Oh well.

You may just have to deal with it because us women apparently perform better when we’re in warm offices.

And honestly, it’s better to be too hot and sweating to death at your desk than shivering.

It is. There is no debate on this.

And a new study has proven that many of us need warmth to operate at full capacity while in the office so, you know, we’ll take it.

The research, aptly called ‘Battle for the thermostat: Gender and the effect of temperature on cognitive performance,’ shows that women perform significantly better at cognitive tests in warmer temperatures compared to cooler ones.

By contrast, men perform better in cooler conditions, but their performance is not as affected by the temperature to the degree than a woman’s is.

The study, published in PLOS One, showed that women were better at maths and verbal tests when warmer, but their performance in cognitive reflection wasn’t really affected by the warmth.

“The increase in female performance in response to higher temperature is significantly larger and more precisely estimated than the corresponding decrease in male performance,” reads the study.

“Our findings suggest that gender mixed workplaces may be able to increase productivity by setting the thermostat higher than current standards.”

The study involved women and men carrying out a series of tests in temperatures ranging from 16.19 C to 32.57 C.

Women performed better in the heat providing more answers to the questions, so it’s not the case that women are smarter when hot, but that they are more willing to try harder.

And yeah, makes sense, we guess. Comfort is key.

Topics:

Health,study,work