Living in the Middle East, air conditioning is something of a lifeline, especially in the workplace.
But while everyone will agree that aircon is a necessity, not everyone can agree on what the optimum temperature should be.
The battle over the thermostat can be on ongoing trigger in office politics, especially when temperature affects men and women in different ways.
According to a new study, women are actually more productive in warmer temperatures.
Researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) monitored 543 students at a laboratory in Berlin as they took part in three different tasks.
The findings, published in scientific journal Plos One, found that women's ability to complete certain cognitive tasks improved in higher temperatures.
The tasks, including a verbal test, a maths test and a cognitive reflection test, were each performed in rooms with temperatures varying between 16°C and 32°C.
On both the maths and verbal tasks, women performed better in the warmer rooms, while men did not perform as well when the thermostat was increased, instead seeing more success in cooler environments.
However, the study found that the relationship between temperature and performance was less acute for male participants.
Researchers say that although it has previously been documented that women prefer warmer temperatures in indoor environments, it had until now been thought of as a matter of preference.
"What we found is it's not just whether you feel comfortable or not, but that your performance on things that matter – in math and verbal dimensions, and how hard you try – is affected by temperature," said Tom Chang, co-author of the study and associate professor of finance and business economics at USC Marshall School of Business.
Temperature changes did not seem to affect performance for the cognitive task for either men or women. But a change of just a few degrees was enough to see a meaningful variation in performance on the other two tasks, something researchers put down to women trying harder when the temperature went up.
"People invest a lot in making sure their workers are comfortable and highly productive," Professor Chang said. "This study is saying even if you care only about money, or the performance of your workers, you may want to crank up the temperature in your office buildings."
