It’s the age-old ‘battle of the sexes’ — who will assume control of the office thermostat and consign their opponents to perpetual discomfort?
At least, that’s how women see the issue, with men more likely to approach decisions over inside temperature settings as compromises rather than a win/lose scenario.
That’s the conclusion of researchers from the US, who found that women are more often left uncomfortable in climate-controlled homes and offices.
The reason boils down to the way discussions over temperature are framed — with hostility less likely to lead to beneficial compromises in thermostat settings.
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It’s the age-old ‘battle of the sexes’ — who will assume control of the office thermostat and consign their opponents to perpetual discomfort? At least, that’s how women see the issue, with men more likely to approach decisions over inside temperature settings as compromises rather than a win/lose scenario
‘It’s possible women are losing the thermostat battle,’ said paper author and behaviour expert Nicole Sintov of the Ohio State University.
‘A woman might construe as a conflict what a man might construe as a compromise.’
‘The fact that we also found that women in our study were uncomfortable more often suggests that the thermal environment was not catering to their needs.’
The researchers found that — when disagreements over the temperature arose — thermostat adjustments were more likely to occur after agreements and compromises.
In contrast, conflicts were associated with fewer temperature changes.
‘It seems like if you disagree with someone on thermal comfort — and what you want to do [is] to moderate that — the thermostat is less likely to get changed,’ said Professor Sintov.
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‘There are some negatives for those involved in conflicts because you have two or more people who are already uncomfortable, and you also now have interpersonal conflict, which is not pleasant.’
One in four married couples in the UK admit having rows about temperature control making it the top household dispute alongside arguments over the chores.
Men prefer a colder house, while women turn up the heat. Physiologists say women’s skin sensors are twice as receptive as men’s meaning they pick up small changes in temperature.
Earlier this year a German team raised the stakes in the battle over office air conditioning by discovering women’s brains work better at higher temperatures.
An issue much discussed on social media is a woman who works in an office is in want of a sweater. Office air conditioning is often set at a temperature that women find chilly.
Now Professor Sintov and colleagues have identified three types of interactions around thermostat settings — agreement, compromise and conflict.
Men were more likely to report temperature changes as compromises or agreements while women tended to describe them as conflicts
The study published in PLOS ONE is based on an analysis of these skirmishes between household members in a sample of 112 Ohio couples and families.
Men were more likely to report them as compromises or agreements while women tended to describe them as conflicts.
Prof Sintov’s work focuses on understanding consumer behaviour around energy use such as installing solar panels on a house or buying a hybrid car.
In many cases, these decisions follow discussions among two or more adults of different genders.
She said: ‘Here, we’re using the thermostat as an example. This is an everyday behaviour.’
‘Most households have one thermostat and multiple occupants, and through some process of negotiation, because we all have differing thermal comfort preferences, a thermostat setting gets chosen.’
‘That has not been examined before, how people interact around an energy decision in a household. This is a starting point.’
The participants completed a survey and provided daily diary entries for up to two weeks about thermostat-related decisions and behaviours.
One person was selected to represent all occupants in the home and at least two people lived in each household – which had to have an adjustable thermostat.
The survey measured individuals’ preferences for warm or cool environments, attention to monthly energy bills and whether the home had a programmable thermostat – and if so, whether it was programmed.
Having the thermostat programmed had no bearing on whether a household was making adjustments to the thermostat.
Prof Sintov said: ‘It’s counter-intuitive. You’d assume they’d stick to the program and make fewer adjustments.’
Each night, participants were reminded to complete their diaries, answering two questions.
They included ‘Did you or anyone else in your household adjust the thermostat in your home today? What adjustments were made and by whom?’ and ‘Others in your home may have different thoughts about how warm or cool it is in the house. Tell us about any related discussions you had.’
Three interaction types surfaced in the analysis – agreement, when two or more occupants agreed on their comfort level and any related decision regarding the thermostat; compromise, when the interaction began with disagreement but resulted in agreement; and conflict, when occupants disagreed at the beginning and end of the discussion.
Previous research has suggested as women have slower metabolic rates, the formula used to set temperatures in workplaces, which was developed decades ago based on the comfort of men, may overestimate women’s body heat production by 35 percent.
One recent study showed at colder temperatures, men scored higher than women on verbal and maths tests. But as a room grew warmer, women’s scores rose significantly.
Women, on average, tend to prefer rooms at 77 degrees Fahrenheit, while men feel comfortable at 71 degrees.
