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A study in Germany found that women performed better on cognitive tests as temperatures increased, while men performed worse. The results suggest that office temperature settings may need to be adjusted for gender differences.
The ongoing battle over whether office thermostats are set too high or too low escalated in 2019 with the release of research published in the journal PLOS One. In an effort to quantify whether temperature has an effect on mental performance among male and female employees, researchers conducted a series of cognitive tests on 550 German university students, such as adding double-digit numbers, deciphering words from a 10-letter jumble and solving other word problems – in rooms with different thermostat settings ranging from 60 degrees to 90 degrees Fahrenheit (16.19 to 32.57 degrees Celsius). They found that women scored better on math and verbal tasks as their temperatures increased. The opposite was true for male students.
The debate on comfort in the office ignites:
For every one degree Celsius increase, women get 1.75% more math questions correct and 1% more verbal questions correct. In contrast, the men correctly answered 0.6 percent less in both categories every time the temperature rose by one degree Celsius.
Some have suggested that different office dress standards can affect how people react to workplace temperatures, especially in offices where men are required to wear suits or jackets, but women have more flexibility to wear more fresh.
The same cannot be said of the results of the study. College students were dressed alike, mostly in shorts and T-shirts, excluding clothing as a reason why men and women seem to prefer different working temperatures.
