Men vs. Women: Caffeine's Bizarre Effect

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Men vs. Women: Caffeine's Bizarre Effect

 

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When men drink coffee or tea at work it may sabotage their ability to do their jobs as it triggers stress, worsens anxiety, disrupts their emotions, and undermines their ability to work well on a team. Coffee or tea has the opposite effect on women, boosting their confidence and helping them to handle stress better. New Scientist reports that researchers from Bristol University in the United Kingdom concluded that caffeinated beverages make men less cooperative when working on teams and could actually hamper their ability to do certain tasks. This is the first study to look at the effect of caffeine on teamwork within groups. What gives caffeine its kick? It's... "Our research findings suggest that the commonplace tea or coffee break might backfire in business situations, particularly where men are concerned," psychologist Lindsay St. Claire, who led the study with Peter Rogers, told New Scientist. "Far from reducing stress, it might actually make things worse." You can significantly reduce stress at work if your boss has this quality. Click to find out what it is. The study: Caffeine's effects were tested on 32 coffee drinkers, who were divided into three groups. Each group was told it was being given one of these drinks: a caffeinated coffee that would boost their performance, a caffeinated coffee that causes stress-like side-effects, or decaffeinated coffee. But unknown to the volunteers, only half the drinks contained 200 mg of caffeine; the other half contained no caffeine. The volunteers were given two stressful tasks to complete. Surprise! One of the top reasons employees call in sick is... The results: Men who believed their caffeinated coffee would enhance their performance had higher heart rates and used less adaptive coping strategies. In other words, they showed more stress. That had the effect of worsening the men's performance during a public speaking task, although it did not effect their ability to do a math problem. During another stressful task, taking a coffee break did seem to reduce stress, but it also reduced teamwork. The opposite seemed to be true for women in that coffee appeared to lower their stress levels. Jim Lane, a medical psychologist at Duke University in North Carolina who is researching caffeine's stress effects, told New Scientist that caffeine's effects on men may be worse because men may feel more threatened or challenged by some tasks than women, and caffeine amplifies their stress. Green or black, iced or hot...who knew tea did THIS? Read this and you might switch from coffee to tea.