A new study was released recently in which it reports that women who work in cold offices are less productive. Researchers tracked the performance of more than 500 men and women in Germany on cognitive tasks when room temperatures varied from roughly 60 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit and found that women generally performed better in warmer temperatures and men in colder ones.
According to study author Agne Kajackaite, "There have been many studies showing that women prefer higher indoor temperatures than men, however nobody looked at the effect of these differences in comfort on performance. We show that the battle for the thermostat is not just about the comfort. It is much more."
The study continued to say, In a laboratory experiment of 543 students in Berlin, participants were asked to do math problems without a calculator, write as many words as possible given a string of random letters and answer questions in a "cognitive reflection test." On the math and verbal sections, women performed best at higher temperatures and men performed best at lower temperatures, though the results for men were less pronounced. Researchers found no relationship between temperature and the results on the cognitive reflection section.
The study showed that women answered correctly increased by 1.76% when temperatures were increased by 1. The opposite happened with men. Questions men answered incorrectly decreased by just 0.63% in a 1 degree warmer setting – a "generally small and statistically insignificant" finding, the researchers write.
According to USAToday, The team also said the study should be used not only to show the increased productivity in warmers rooms but also for other researchers to consider how temperatures may be affecting the results in their studies that look at differences between men and women.
What do you think? Do you think this study is accurate?