The Debate Over Office Temperatures Just Heated Up, Thanks to a New Study

There are new data to throw into the ongoing debate over office thermostats—but they likely won’t settle any arguments. The question of how cold to keep an office often splits workplaces by gender, since women typically prefer a warmer workspace than men for reasons both biological and sociological. Men expend more energy than women at rest and thus tend to run warmer, while women have higher core temperatures, which can make cold air feel more jarring. Office dress codes may also require men to wear suits or jackets, while women can dress for warmer days with skirts or dresses. These differences begin to explain the thermostat war waging in offices across the country, but a 2015 paper brought the argument to a fever pitch. It found that most offices set their thermostats using a male-centric “thermal comfort model,” spurring a slew of articles on the sexist nature of office HVAC systems. Last year, while running for governor of New York, Cynthia Nixon and her team reignited the conversation by calling the frigid temperatures favored by men “notoriously sexist.” A new study, published in the journal PLOS One, only stokes the flames: It says women perform better on cognitive tasks in warmer environments, while men do better when it’s chillier. “There’s all this evidence that women like higher temperatures, and there’re some articles saying the office temperature is sexist. We were like, ‘Is this a real thing or...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized embargoed study Research Source Type: news