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Multitasking. We all do. Reply to messages in groups while walking, send email orders for discounted items online shop customers in the middle of a meeting, reply to social media notifications while cooking. Multitasking is a condition when you are able to do many things at once. Wait a minute, are the above examples more likely to describe women? Are women better at multitasking than men?
Research reveals that…
Research conducted by doctor Svetlana Kuptsova, by performing MRI scans of the brains of men and women when faced with several jobs at once, revealed that the brains of both genders respond with very different reactions, in which the male brain needs more energy to cope with work- jobs that came suddenly a breakdown, compared to a woman's brain.
This research was then supported more specifically by research conducted by researchers from Glasgow, Leeds, and Hertfordshire University which pitted the skills of men and women in dealing with a number of different problems and conditions and continued to increase at each stage.
In the first stage, when the participants were faced with a computer game designed with a rapidly changing focus of attention, women's performance was slightly outperformed by men.
Likewise with the second stage, when participants are asked to solve a number of math problems, find the location of a particular restaurant on a map, look for a missing item and occasionally answer a number of general insight questions over the phone that occasionally rings. Although both men and women are able to plan well, men's attention is immediately distracted when these situations come at almost the same time (multitasking).
Research also reveals that women are better able to find lost items than men. The researchers concluded that women are better able to process and interpret information even under any (spatial) conditions.
Why are women better at multitasking than men?
Many theories are used to explain the results of the above research. This condition can occur because women are accustomed to multitasking, especially if the woman is a mother as well as a career woman. The circumstances made him get used to it and eventually women were better at multitasking than men.
Meanwhile, another theory, which is obtained from research conducted by the University of Stockholm, reveals a person's spatial ability will trigger their ability to complete work related to space, such as finding lost items and finding locations on a map.
But this ability is also influenced by reproductive hormones in the human body. A psychology professor, Doreen Kimura, revealed that the human right brain affects a person's spatial ability and this spatial ability will increase when the hormone estrogen decreases (not during ovulation).
Is multitasking good?
It depends. Some literature suggests not to continue this multitasking habit. Some of them explain that in fact, when you think you have done some work by multitasking, you just swap jobs for one another, leaving work to do other work, without first completing the job.
This is supported by Guy Winch, a psychologist, who said that in fact the human brain has limitations when it comes to attention and productivity. A study conducted by the University of Utah revealed that a driver takes longer to reach his destination, as he does so accompanied by occasional text messages on his cell phone. Some people may have the ability to do multitasking by finishing it first, but not all.
Can you multitask?
