Why do men and women have different temperature preferences? - study

• Author: JERUSALEM POST STAFF
• Published date: 05 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The study, which was published in Global Ecology and Biogeography, sought to discover why women prefer warmer temperatures while men are more comfortable in cooler temperatures.

In order to understand temperature preference differences between women and men, the researchers studied the habits of dozens of species of birds and bats. They found that bats segregated during the weening season, with males preferring cold temperatures like caves on the Hermon, and females preferring to stay in the warmer climates of the valleys.

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Birds, on the other hand, were found to segregate outside of breeding and weening seasons because the males help take care of the chicks. As with the bats, the males segregated themselves to cooler climates while females went to warmer climates.

The research was led by Dr. Eran Levin and Dr. Tali Magory Cohen from the School of Zoology at Tel Aviv University, Yosef Kiat from the University of Haifa and Dr. Haggai Sharon of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine.

The research team specifically chose bats and birds because their flying abilities make them highly mobile, and the scientists believed that this would make segregation results clearer. Furthermore, the climate diversity in Israel provided the team with a diverse study of different climatic conditions.

The study concluded that segregation keeps the males and females apart at periods when they do not need each other, which lessens the competition for resources and the chances of conflict between the sexes.

"Our study has shown that the phenomenon is not unique to humans," Levin said. "Among many species of birds and mammals, females prefer a warmer...