Abstract
This paper studies differences in the effect of temperature on cognitive performance by gender in a large controlled lab experiment (N = 543). We study performance in math, verbal and cognitive reflection tasks and find that the effects of temperature vary significantly across men and women. At higher temperatures, women perform better on a math and verbal task while the reverse effect is observed for men. The increase in female performance in response to higher temperature is significantly larger and more precisely estimated than the corresponding decrease in male performance. In contrast to math and verbal tasks, temperature has no impact on a measure of cognitive reflection for either gender. Our findings suggest that gender mixed workplaces may be able to increase productivity by setting the thermostat higher than current standards.
Highlights
The fact that women generally prefer higher indoor temperatures than men is well supported by survey evidence [1,2,3,4]
In contrast to the math and verbal tasks, and consistent with Fig 2, we find that temperature has no significant impact on Cognitive reflection test (CRT) scores for either men or women (Columns 5 and 6)
For women, higher temperatures are associated with lower error rates, the results are only marginally statistically significant. These results show that within a temperature range of 16 and 33 degrees Celsius, females generally exhibit better cognitive performance at the warmer end of the temperature distribution while men do better at colder temperatures
Summary
The fact that women generally prefer higher indoor temperatures than men is well supported by survey evidence [1,2,3,4]. Across specifications, both the increase in female performance and the differential effect of temperature on males relative to females are economically meaningful and statistically significant. The coefficients from the linear regression estimate imply that a temperature increase of one degree Celsius increases female performance on the verbal task by 1.03% (p-value = 0.036) and decreases male performance by 0.6% (p-value = 0.331) The difference in effects between men and women is not statistically significant (p-value = 0.079). In contrast to the math and verbal tasks, and consistent with Fig 2, we find that temperature has no significant impact on CRT scores for either men or women (Columns 5 and 6). For women, higher temperatures are associated with lower error rates, the results are only marginally statistically significant (see S2 Table)
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