Research simulates real-life multitasking performance to assess potential differences between men and women. When coordinating five different tasks, men ignored the conversational task more than twice as often as women, while showing similar performance to women in all other tasks.

Multitasking, defined as the ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously or switch between them, has become a central feature of modern life, occurring in contexts such as driving, work, household activities and even leisure. Despite the widespread stereotype that women are better at multitasking, research has shown only small and inconsistent sex differences, calling into question the existence of meaningful differences in this domain.

In light of this, with the support of the Bial Foundation, André and Diana Szameitat (from Brunel University of London and City St George’s, University of London, UK, respectively) conducted a study to clarify whether sex differences in multitasking exist and to explore possible explanations for the origin of this stereotype.