Women Coffee Drinkers Cope Better Under Stress

Tue, Aug 18, 15 by Jim Couch

This is something that women and men in the workplace certainly should be aware of.

Researchers have found that among women and men coffee drinkers who are faced with stressful situations, it’s the women who perform a lot better.

A study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology reported on a study from the University of Bristol in England.  In the study, 64 men and women with an average age of 22 were paired with a partner of the same sex, and then asked to solve puzzles, memory tasks, negotiate and give public presentations - after drinking caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee.  The researchers aim in the study was to try to determine if caffeine consumption could aggravate stress.

After consuming the caffeine from coffee, results showed that women solved the puzzles faster and generally did better on the tests.

The researchers theorized that men tend to behave more aggressively under stress (like “fight or flight” response), while women are more likely to collaborate and work together under stress.