Does Office Temp Affect Men and Women Differently?

A new study shows that men and women actually perform at different levels depending on the temperature of their environment. Can you guess which gender does better in hot or cold temperatures?



The married man in me had to guess!



My wife loves to sleep with the bedroom ice-cold! Many nights, the pup and I have huddled together for warmth, not sure if we’d not make it through the night. The next day’s headline could be, “Woman Finally Has a Peaceful Night’s Sleep While Husband and Dog Freeze!” Just kidding! Kind of.



So, I thought women would perform better in cold temperatures. Turns out, I was wrong! Here’s what the study found:



“Female students generally did better on math and verbal tests when the room was warmer. They gave more correct answers and just more answers overall. Male students did better in cooler rooms, giving fewer correct answers in warmer settings. Interestingly, temperature didn’t seem to affect logic test performance for either gender.”



So, men and women really are different when it comes to temperature!



But this makes us wonder, how do we find the right temperature for our office when both men and women are working together?



I’ve worked in places where the facilities team had one set temperature, no matter what. No space heaters, no fans allowed (because of energy use duh), so you’d see people wearing coats or blankets at their desks, or others in tank tops because it was so hot!



The truth is, we all have a temperature that helps us do our best work. When we think about making our employees comfortable and productive, it’s up to us to help them find the right temperature. This isn’t just being picky—it’s science! If we want high performance and happy workers, the temperature they work in matters.



So, what temperature do you work best in? Have you even noticed? Let me know in the comments.