February 4, 2011

Put that cup down, pardner

I think the results of a new study from the UK are funny. They tested male and female reactions to caffeine. The results? It turns out the men can't handle it but the women thrive. Apparently the men's fight-or-flight reactions are triggered when they drink coffee. It actually lessens their effectiveness! I'm not sure why I this so funny but I do.

Here are a couple of take-out paragraphs from the above-linked article:
The results, published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology showed that pairs of women drinking caffeinated coffee completed puzzles 100 seconds faster than those on decaffeinated coffee, while men on caffeine completed the puzzles 20 seconds slower than those on the decaffeinated. Men drinking caffeinated coffee were “greatly impaired” in the memory tasks.
The researchers pointed out that many high-level meetings are male-dominated and concluded that unlimited supplies of coffee at such meetings might not be a good idea, at least for the men attending them. They said men might even “unintentionally sabotage the partnerships forged to solve stressful issues.”

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