Gaby
Men might like to see themselves as the tougher half of the population. However, scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston have found that men’s fatigue is often exaggerated in the eyes of others. A new study’s authors found that people tend to overlook signs of tiredness in women while overestimating men’s exhaustion. The study suggests one reason: women often work to appear sociable even when they’re exhausted. Meanwhile, men come across as more tired because they are less attentive and less expressive in their communication.
The team at NASA didn’t discover this discrepancy by chance. They believe understanding it is crucial for monitoring astronauts in space.
During space missions, crew members endure long, grueling days under intense stress. Accurately assessing fatigue can help crews operate at peak performance and, in some cases, save astronauts’ lives.
What Did the Researchers Discover?
The research team, led by Dr. Morgan Stosic, asked 71 male and female volunteers to engage in a five-minute conversation with a stranger and then rate their level of fatigue at that moment.
The scientists measured participants’ fatigue on a scale from zero, indicating no fatigue, to ten, indicating maximum exhaustion.
Afterward, participants watched video recordings of their conversations with the sound turned off and assessed how fatigued each speaker appeared.
Despite women reporting significant exhaustion, observers underestimated their fatigue levels by an average of 1.3 points. In contrast, men’s fatigue was rated approximately 0.9 points higher than what the men themselves reported.
Dr. Stosic said, “Observers typically underestimated the level of fatigue reported by women but overestimated the fatigue reported by men.” Stosic suggested this might be linked to the efforts men and women make to remain communicative when they are drained.
By tracking participants’ body language, the scientists found that exhausted women tended to try to appear more attentive, for example, by maintaining direct eye contact. However, observers interpreted this behavior as a sign of less fatigue among women, as reported by the Daily Mail.
The New Study Adds to Previous Findings
The results align with earlier research that showed women’s discomfort often receives less attention.
In a previous study, Dr. Stosic applied a tourniquet to the shoulders of participants of both genders and asked them to perform grip exercises to induce pain. Observers consistently underestimated the level of pain experienced by women while overestimating the pain reported by men.
Other studies have shown that women’s pain is often not taken seriously, even in medical settings. Researchers at the University of Miami found that expectations for women to react more expressively to injury subconsciously lead observers to downplay their pain.
Similarly, a study published last year revealed that female patients are less likely to receive appropriate treatment in emergency departments because they are perceived as “hysterical and prone to exaggeration.”
Observations of more than 21,000 patients showed that women were less frequently prescribed pain relief medications. In contrast, men were more often prescribed analgesics or antidepressants and even received referrals for laboratory tests more frequently.
