It’s been shown by numerous studies that office thermostats are typically set according to men’s metabolic rates, a model that “may overestimate resting heat production of women by up to 35 percent.” What hasn’t been studied in as much depth, however, is whether ambient temperatures affect productivity. A new study published in PLOS One does precisely this, assessing the cognitive performance of men and women at different temperatures. It found that, “at colder temperatures, men scored higher than women on verbal and math tests. But as a room grew warmer, women’s scores rose significantly.” When the temperature was below 70 Fahrenheit (21 Celsius), females solved, on average, 8.31 math tasks correctly. And when the temperature was above 80 Fahrenheit (27 C), females solved 10.56 tasks. That is, female performance increased by 27 percent.
— source treehugger.com | May 24, 2019