Why does everyone say that women are better multitaskers?

Question

Is it a myth, or is there any actual scientific proof? Proof that is not provided by Nokia, with it's vast scientific credibility. :)

Answer 1

I haven't seen any scientific proof, but I do think in general this is true.  I say in general because I know plenty of exceptions.  Women usually are better at doing a lot of short tasks in a short time, while men are usually better at concentrating on one or two things that take a long time.  That's the theory anyway.  I'd say it's true more often than not, but like every gender "rule" has lots of exceptions.

Becky- Plenty of men can do all that.  Who waits for an entire load of laundry to finish?  Unless you're doing it the very old fashioned way of washing them in a river, all you do is load them in, pick a few settings, put in some detergent, and hit a button.

I can multitask, although I'd prefer to do one thing at a time if I can get away with it.  I saw a study once that said that single-taskers do better work than multitaskers, so it may not be the best thing to try to do several things at once if you can help it.

I saw the study in a magazine, so I can't link to it, but I'll try to find something on here.

I found this one:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/busine...

Answer 2

Plain and simple:

Feminist propaganda.

Answer 3

Just to be ornery to Max:

Have you ever seen a Man doing dishes while talking on the phone, and yelling at the kids to stop rough housing in the living room, all at the same time?  

I don't work with many Men, but they seem to be wired in a more methodical fashion, working on one project at a time, completing it (or not) and then moving on to another project.  

While a Woman might have multiple things running through her mind to keep all pending tasks moving along smoothly, while efficiently handling them all.  Or we might  have 6 things going on at one time, and complete them all in a timely manner.

If a Woman worked methodically like a Man, in a traditional household, we would do one load of laundry, for

an hour, then do dishes for a half hour, then vacuum for 10 minutes.  We would be working for an hour and 40 minutes.  Why not work on the latter "chores"  just after  laundry is started, then it all gets done w/in that hour?

While I am not famous, I am a drummer, and can eat, drink (not alcohol) and drive at the same time.  I'm smart enough not to, but I can.

Answer 4

I've never heard any scientific proof of it.

Answer 5

its just a politically correct rant

i'm a female and I barely have the attn span to do one thing at a time...though ADD is much more common in men than women

Answer 6

it is the same as the myth about women being innate nurtures.

       Just another feminist tool to insult men.

Answer 7

It's odd, there are not that many famous women drummers and women can't put on make up and drive without crashing.

<tongue in cheek>

edit - Becky, I do the dishes and talk on the phone (if I have to) and keep an eye on other things. It's not that difficult. Even though I can do things at the same time, I like to do them in sequence and give them my full attention.

Everyone multi-tasks to some degree. I'm sure this 'gift' women supposedly have is slightly hyped.

Answer 8

I know that men beat women hands down for multi-tasking and would prove it with a link, but alas I fear another violation notice.

Answer 9

Women were created to give birth and raise children,watching children and still working around the house or job would take a great multitasker...and now where even more and more women are finding themselves alone raising children, many times without child support...is not only challanging, but would require some of the best multitasking skills known to man....We were just made that way...because  we need the skills....

Answer 10

There are studies that show women ARE actually better at multitasking.

Answer 11

They are not "better" they are just more "willing". Men would rather focus on ONE thing and do it WELL... instead of several things and doing them halfASS.

Answer 12

women are better multitaskers. Period.  Why you want actual scientific proof for everything?

Answer 13

well

normally women handle stress better than men, i suppose

Answer 14

You are correct; there is no scientific proof.  As such, we women should stop claiming this ability when we have no proof of it; just as men should stop claiming that men are better at logic, math, and science when they have no proof.

Answer 15

corpus callosum....

I'm not finding it...I did a paper a few years on the difference between the male and female brain (anthropolgy class) anyway

a study was done where they played a two stories one in each ear and show the person a complicated picture.(busy city street)

At the end the people were asked questions.

Basically the men would "pick" one of the three things and focus on that.  They were able to remember just about every small details on the one...but little to none on the others.

women on the other hand...could remember "general" details on all three but few small details on any of them.

Answer 16

there have been studies that show that typically this is true.  men tend to focus on one task at a time, finishing one task before starting another. whereas women, throughout much of history were responsible for the babies which translates to...you better know how to juggle more than one task at a time.  we start one task, pause and start another task, pause that one and start another then go back to the first, etc.