Women worse than men at multi-tasking, claims study

[dutchman]

The common belief that women are better than men at multi-tasking is a myth, according to a recent study.

Stockholm University researchers have claimed that, for certain parts of the month, females are inferior at juggling different activities.

According to The Local, Timo Mäntylä - a psychology professor at the university - explained: "On the contrary, the results of our study show that men are better at multi-tasking than women."

However, the professor went on to say that women do not always come second in this arena, with there being no significant difference between the sexes during a woman's 'time of the month'.

Explaining that a good 'working memory' and spatial ability are both important for effective multi-tasking, Mäntylä said: "Previous studies have shown that women's spatial skills vary across the menstrual cycle with high capacity around menstruation and much lower around ovulation, when oestrogen levels are high.

"The results showed a clear difference in multi-tasking between men and women in the ovulation phase, while this effect was eliminated for women in the menstrual phase."

The study required participants to keep track of three digital clocks displaying different times at different speeds, and at the same time watch a scrolling ticker showing common Swedish names and press a mouse button when a name was repeated.