Take a look around an office and notice how people are dressed. Some may be wearing long sleeves and sweaters while others have their arms bared and neckties loosened. It doesn’t matter whether they are all in a perfectly climate-controlled space…people experience temperature differently. In fact, we all have personal temperature preferences that may or may not be in sync with each other or the actual temperature of a room.
We all know that thinking and job performance suffer when we are tired, sick or (for some of us) hungry. But a research team from the Netherlands wanted to see whether being in a room that’s not quite right temperature-wise also would hurt cognitive performance—and if so, by how much. And what they found may change how you deal with room temperature from now on!
SOME LIKE IT HOT…
The researchers took 56 volunteers, labeled “warm preferred” or “cold preferred” based on their responses to a temperature-preference questionnaire and had them take something called an N-back test, which evaluates working memory. Half of the volunteers took the test in a room set at a reasonable 68°F, and the other half took the test twice, once in a room set at a very cool 59°F and, on another day, in a room set at a warm 77°F. The researchers found that…
Reaction times were 16% faster, on average, when participants took the test in rooms that matched their temperature preference instead of rooms that were the opposite of their temperature preference. In other words, “cold preferred” people performed with much greater speed in the 59° room, and “warm preferred” people performed with much greater speed in the 77° room.
Accuracy on the more difficult parts of the cognitive test was about 8% better when participants took the test in rooms that matched their temperature preference.
The room set at 68°— a moderate temperature that you might think would be a good environment even for people who tend to prefer it cooler or warmer—turned out to be harmful to performance. Both “warm preferred” and “cold preferred” participants performed better (up to 21% better for reaction times!) when they were in rooms that matched their temperature preference.
RESPECT YOUR COMFORT ZONE!
The researchers have a fancy term for why a person literally thinks worse in a room with a temperature that doesn’t match his or her preference—they call it ego depletion. All it really means is that feeling uncomfortable wastes (depletes) mental energy…and, of course, we all have a limited amount of mental energy at any given time. When you feel comfortable, more of your energy is used for the task at hand.
Now, why should this finding be important to you? Granted, if you work in an office or other commercial environment, you may not be in a position to finesse the thermostat to suit yourself. But now you know that deciding to just be a trooper about it—by trying to ignore your discomfort and do your work just as well as ever—is not going to work. For your comfort, for your performance and very possibly for the good of your career, it’s important to do something—even something simple such as wearing a sweater if you’re cold (or using a space heater if your company allows it). Or bringing in a fan if you’re hot. Or you might request an office reassignment to maintain your comfort. Don’t just muddle through, because that’s exactly where your mind will be—in a muddle!
