每到夏天，辦公室的空調溫度常常引發男女職員之間的紛爭。女士覺得空調溫度合適時，男士往往覺得太熱；男士覺得神清氣爽了，女士卻冷得發抖。女性是否天生比男性怕冷呢？

It's a stereotype universally acknowledged that a woman at room temperature must be in want of a coat. But is it a scientific truth?
普遍存在的刻板印象是，女性在室溫下一定要備一件外套。但這是科學事實嗎？

Sheer observations aside, very few controlled studies have investigated how male and female bodies withstand cold temperatures.
除了純觀察之外，很少有對照研究調查了男性和女性身體如何抵御寒冷。

A new study has surprised researchers at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), finding no sex difference in the perception of a cold room, and very few sex differences in our physiological response to it.
美國國立衛生研究院（NIH）的研究人員在開展一項新研究時驚訝地發現，男女在寒冷房間中的感知沒有性別差異，并且男女對寒冷的生理反應也幾乎沒有性別差異。

During the trial, a group of 28 men and women spent five hours in a temperature-controlled room, wearing provided shirts, shorts or skirts, and socks. Each day, participants were physically monitored and surveyed on their comfortability as the temperature ranged between 17 oC to 31 oC.
在試驗期間，一組28名男性和女性在溫度可控制的房間里待了五個小時，他們穿著研究人員提供的衣服，包括襯衫、短褲或裙子，還有襪子。每天，隨著溫度在17攝氏度到31攝氏度之間變化，研究人員會對參與者的身體進行監測，并對他們的舒適度進行調查。

Contrary to what NIH researchers were expecting to find, women in the study had a slightly higher core body temperature in colder temperatures than men.
與NIH研究人員預期的相反，參加研究的女性在較低的溫度下，核心體溫略高于男性。

There were no sex differences in glucose uptake, muscle electrical activity, skin temperature, or cold-induced thermogenesis.
此外，參與者在葡萄糖攝取、肌肉電活動、皮膚溫度或寒冷誘發的熱生成方面沒有性別差異。

It seems that even though female participants were physically smaller than males, producing less body heat overall, their relatively higher body fat helped balance the scales.
盡管女性參與者體積較男性小，總體上產生的熱量較少，但她們相對較高比例的體脂幫助平衡了熱量的不足。

Based on their results, researchers at NIH say the female body's comfort zone for temperature bottoms out at roughly 22 °C – a degree lower than the average for male participants.
基于研究結果，NIH研究人員表示，女性身體對溫度的舒適區下限大約是22攝氏度——比男性參與者的平均值低一度。

This suggests that as temperatures drop, the female body doesn't have to expend energy for warmth as soon as the male body, giving women a more "arctic" thermal profile.
這表明隨著溫度下降，女性身體不必像男性那樣立即為保暖而消耗能量，使女性擁有更能適應嚴寒氣候的熱特性。

But that sex difference, while it is significant, offers little advantage. As temperatures lower to 17 oC, researchers found no sex differences in the onset of shivering or how comfortable or uncomfortable participants said they felt in the room.
但是，盡管這種性別差異是顯著的，但它提供的優勢很小。當溫度降至17攝氏度時，研究人員發現參與者在開始發抖的時間或在房間里感到舒適或不舒適的程度上沒有性別差異。

The study was published in PNAS.
這項研究發表在《美國國家科學院院刊》上。

英文來源：Science Alert

翻譯&編輯：丹妮

審校：齊磊、董靜