Sleeping in socks and wearing sweaters in summer: scientists have refuted a popular myth about women

Even as temperatures continue to rise outside, many office workers are stocking up on sweaters and blankets. Overly air-conditioned workplaces mean that many workers (and most of them are women) are finding that the heat of summer has given way to what some call "women's winter."

Instead of shorts and sandals, excessive indoor cold forces them to wear sweaters and socks. Although this phenomenon has spawned an endless series of funny videos on social media, this topic is not really a joke, National Geographic writes, based on the results of a new study.

"If people are uncomfortable, they're not going to perform as well as they could. It sounds too obvious, but it's quite common," says Thomas Chang, a business economist at the University of Southern California.

A study by Thomas Chang and his colleagues found that women tend to report being most comfortable at higher temperatures than the average man. And it's not just about offices. Women are more sensitive to cold, whether it's outside, at home, or work.

One reason for this is that women burn fewer calories at rest than men on average, which creates less internal heat.

But it's not that simple. A study conducted in April 2024 found that a person's body size and composition are more important than gender in determining when they start to feel cold.

How metabolic rate determines body temperature

People put a lot of energy and effort into keeping their body temperature at the right level. But just as people vary in height and body shape, they also have different definitions of the ideal temperature. Some people are comfortable wearing shorts and sandals even in winter, while others are consistently cold without a hat or sweater. Each person's preference for outside temperature directly depends on how their metabolism works.

People with more muscle mass and a larger body tend to burn more calories at rest than slim people. While fat insulates, it can also prevent the heat generated by the heart from reaching the hands and feet. "As a consequence, temperature preferences may be sex-dependent to some extent, but it's not as simple as 'women prefer higher temperatures,'" says Boris Kingma, a human thermal performance scientist at the Netherlands Institute of Applied Technology.

The scientist emphasizes the huge difference in ideal temperatures between men and women. On the other hand, the desired temperature for a person varies depending on the level of activity and clothing. According to Kingma, determining the gender of these variables is more important than metabolism.

The latest study confirms these findings. A team of scientists from the National Institutes of Health found that the most important thing for determining the ideal human temperature is the interaction between metabolic rate, body surface area, and body fat percentage.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!