Examples include small desk fans, heated chairs and blankets, or footwarmers. In the workplace, personal comfort systems are thermal systems that heat or cool and can be locally positioned in individual work stations such as desktops, chairs, or near the feet and legs. The “Scandinavian sleep method”, where couples sleep with separate blankets, is one way to overcome the differences in temperature preferences. So the difference between heat-sensing mechanisms may provide an evolutionary advantage. Male bats prefer to rest at the cool, high peaks of mountains, whereas females remain in the warmer valleys.įemale mammals may have developed a preference for warmer climates to encourage them to rest with offspring during stages when the young are unable to regulate their own body temperature. Studies on many species of birds and mammals report that males commonly congregate in cooler areas where there is shade, while females and offspring stay in warmer environments where there is sunlight. The phenomenon that some of us prefer warmer temperatures to others isn’t unique to humans. This is likely the source of the saying “cold hands, warm heart”. This means that around this time, women may be particularly sensitive to cooler outside temperatures.Īlthough the hands and feet are cooler, women do have warmer average core temperatures than men. The core body temperature is highest in the week after ovulation, as progesterone levels increase. The hormones also make women’s hands, feet and ears stay around three degrees Celsius cooler than men’s. This hormone balance changes throughout the month alongside the menstrual cycle.
Constricting blood vessel meaning skin#
And progesterone can cause the vessels in the skin to constrict, meaning less blood will flow to some areas to keep the internal organs warmer, leaving women feeling cooler. This means more heat can be lost to the surrounding air. Oestrogen dilates blood vessels at the extremities. The hormones oestrogen and progesterone, found in large quantities in women, contribute to the core body and skin temperatures.
Women also tend to have a lower metabolic rate than men, which reduces heat production capacity during cold exposure, making women more prone to feeling cold as the temperature drops. Women also have more fat between the skin and the muscles, so the skin feels colder, as it’s slightly further away from blood vessels. But research does consistently show women prefer a higher indoor temperature to men.īut is there any science backing up the widespread belief women “feel the cold” more than men? At around the same body weight, women tend to have less muscle to generate heat. And the thermostat’s setting often forms the basis of office arguments between women and men regarding the “correct” temperature for it to be set.īetween the sexes, there are always more similarities than differences. We all have different preferences for when it’s the right time to bring out the winter blankets.
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