There are good reasons why men and women seem to disagree on the ideal temperature for their offices, says a human ecology professor. Canada gets very cold in winter and kind of hot in summer, so office temperatures are carefully controlled. But often men would like the setting to be around 21 C and women would prefer about 24 C.
Biological factors may account for the difference, says Prof. Alan Hedge of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York who studies people in their working environments.
Muscle, fat are factors
Most men have more muscle than women and muscles generate heat, he says. Men usually have more hair which insulates them. And although women have a layer of fat under the skin that men don’t have, it doesn’t cover hands, feet, ankles, and the back of the neck. Often this is where women feel cold.
The more obvious problem is clothing. Men tend to wear pants, socks, shoes, and shirts to work in summer. Women often wear light dresses and sandals. It is not unusual for office employees to change thermostat settings, only to have others change them again until there is agreement on what temperature both sexes can tolerate.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.