Science
Related: About this forumInteracting with a Woman Can Leave Men "Cognitively Impaired"
In one experiment, just telling a man he would be observed by a female was enough to hurt his psychological performance.
By Daisy Grewal | March 13, 2012 |
Movies and television shows are full of scenes where a man tries unsuccessfully to interact with a pretty woman. In many cases, the potential suitor ends up acting foolishly despite his best attempts to impress. It seems like his brain isnt working quite properly and according to new findings, it may not be.
Researchers have begun to explore the cognitive impairment that men experience before and after interacting with women. A 2009 study demonstrated that after a short interaction with an attractive woman, men experienced a decline in mental performance. A more recent study suggests that this cognitive impairment takes hold even w hen men simply anticipate interacting with a woman who they know very little about.
Sanne Nauts and her colleagues at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands ran two experiments using men and women university students as participants. They first collected a baseline measure of cognitive performance by having the students complete a Stroop test. Developed in 1935 by the psychologist John Ridley Stroop, the test is a common way of assessing our ability to process competing information. The test involves showing people a series of words describing different colors that are printed in different colored inks. For example, the word blue might be printed in green ink and the word red printed in blue ink. Participants are asked to name, as quickly as they can, the color of the ink that the words are written in. The test is cognitively demanding because our brains cant help but process the meaning of the word along with the color of the ink. When people are mentally tired, they tend to complete the task at a slower rate.
After completing the Stroop Test, participants in Nauts study were asked to take part in another supposedly unrelated task. They were asked to read out loud a number of Dutch words while sitting in front of a webcam. The experimenters told them that during this lip reading task an observer would watch them over the webcam. The observer was given either a common male or female name. Participants were led to believe that this person would see them over the web cam, but they would not be able to interact with the person. No pictures or other identifying information were provided about the observerall the participants knew was his or her name. After the lip reading task, the participants took another Stroop test. Womens performance on the second test did not differ, regardless of the gender of their observer. However men who thought a woman was observing them ended up performing worse on the second Stroop test. This cognitive impairment occurred even though the men had not interacted with the female observer.
more
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-interacting-with-woman-leave-man-cognitively-impaired
WingDinger
(3,690 posts)If I ran a crew or whatever, and I contemplate a woman hire, do I change the dynamic? And how long before a woman's gender is ignored?
Can we expect decent work out of males after some time to cool his jets? Actually, I rather like what a woman does to a workplace. But this study could be used for ill.
a simple pattern
(608 posts)From the constraints of the study it almost sounds like the men were nervous about being judged by an unseen woman. Perhaps the women did not experience this with a male observer because they are accustomed to the male gaze?
WingDinger
(3,690 posts)White collar, not as much.
There was a time, when I actually told the foreman, to put away the nudie calendar from customer sight. He thought it appropriate, to have that staring at any woman that ventured past the front desk.
A fairly attractive woman, actually working the trade, would really be a disruption.
I am not a sexist, but I do study primates. This study codifies existing prejudices against women in many jobs. The least they should have done, is studied the EXTINGUISHMENT. Or lessening of stilted social ability thru exposure and time.
TalkingDog
(9,001 posts)Because if you respond that it's not about discipline it's about being a primate (and to a degree I am with you on this), then you are suggesting that men have no more capacity to control themselves than an animal.
If men are animals and can't control themselves... or learn to, women should not be punished or denied jobs, access, etc.
If men can learn to overcome the effect that women have on them well enough to do whatever tasks necessary, then it is incumbent upon them to do so. That responsibility or burden should in no way be laid upon someone else; namely women.
Otherwise might as well tell them to slap on a burka.
longship
(40,416 posts)The confluence of psychology and neuroscience is incredibly interesting.
R&
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Must be some kind of XY thing that creates an instinctive desire to find that missing piece.
Yes, I know that could be construed several ways, LOL. Just run along and play nicely, kiddies.
Hormones are powerful chemicals that effect the brain and impact how memories are stored as well as how we feel and think and act.
'Life is fragile, handle with care,' as the old saying goes.
MADem
(135,425 posts)Of course, there were no real people involved--just names. Maybe women think that guys who monitor experiments are geeky, and men think women who monitor experiments are hotties?
It would be interesting if they re-ran the experiment with real people that the subjects could meet ahead of the experiment, the challenge would be to find "attractive" people who would appeal to the subjects of the experiment.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Thus proving it is how the men think that did them in.
Actually, this little test unwittingly supports the military's claim back then that allowing women into the military would "disrupt unit cohesion".
Which is the same argument the military used for denying blacks,
and then gay people, equal access in the military.
But, as most of us knew in each of those incidents, the REAL problem was all in the heads of white, straight military.