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Valuable Information:

Men Prefer the Thermostat Lower Than
Women

By Jim
Stephens

This information is
based on a recent article in the Washington
Post.

_________________________________________________

Prefer the Thermostat
Lower Than Women

By Jim Stephens

You might want to think of it as the first
law of domestic thermodynamics: One spouse almost
always wants the room temperature to be lower than
does the other one. In the vast majority of
marriages, it is the man who wants the lower
temperature.

Researchers who study sex differences agree
that when it comes to temperature, it seems women
are from Venus and men are from Planet Freon.

"This is a real phenomenon," said Kathryn
Sandberg, director of the Georgetown University Center for the
Study of Sex Differences in Health, Aging and
Disease. "We have lots of data showing that
women generally are far more sensitive to feelings
of cold."

Studies among several species of mammals have
shown the same results. Given a choice between two
chambers on either side of their comfort range,
males prefer one that is "too cold" and females
one that is "too hot." And military research has
shown women to be more susceptible to frostbite,
hypothermia, Raynaud's disease and other
cold-related conditions.

Women may prefer fans and the windows open
all day. "I'm perfectly comfortable right now with
just the fans," said one housewife on a steamy
mid-summer afternoon. "When he walks in, he'll
say, 'Oh my God, it's hot in here,' and stomp
around and close all the windows and turn on the
air conditioning. I know he's a miserable wretch
if he's hot, so I just put on my L.L. Bean
wool-lined slippers and endure it."

Some people try opening or closing air
conditioning vents throughout the house to create
rooms that are different temperatures. But those
will limit each person to mostly a certain area.
Much of the times folks just have to find a
compromise.

The difference in temperature preference
between men and women is explained by several
factors, Sandberg said, including women's lower
ratio of body mass to surface area, lesser muscle
mass and a slower resting metabolism.

Further, women have a lower tolerance for
cold than men. When Sandberg has had male and
female volunteers hold their hands in ice water as
long as possible, women are typically quicker to
max out. In a survival response that researchers
don't fully understand, a woman's sympathetic
nervous system, which helps the body regulate its
temperature, activates under cold stimulation more
easily than a man's.

"If a woman likes it less cold in the house,
it's probably partly due to this low tolerance to
the pain of cold," Sandberg said. "Women are more
sensitive to that discomfort."

Couples shouldn't despair over thermostat
conflicts that might last a lifetime, said Diane
Sollee, head of the Washington-based Coalition for
Marriage, Family and Couples Education. In fact,
because the stakes are relatively low,
garden-variety thermostat disputes could even help
build a strong marriage.

Happily married couples, the ones who make it
all the way to the rocking chairs, argue pretty
much nonstop about an average of 10
"irreconcilable differences," Sollee said.
"Couples are always going to disagree about some
things, always. The important thing is to
talk about them with love and respect. In marriage
communication, we have to teach couples to talk to
each other, even when they disagree, in a way that
will make them want to make love that night."

________________________________________________

God bless your marriage and
family.

Jim
Stephens

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Sex Differences in the Brain: From Genes to
Behavior

Jim
Stephens
The Marriage
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