The effect of caffeine is not the same for everyone.Have several cups of coffeehelps thewomen cope with stressful situations, but it makesmen become more insecureand that they take longer to complete tasks, according to an investigation by the University of Bristol, in the United Kingdom, published in the magazineJournal of Applied Social Psychology.
In their experiments, Lindsay St Claire and her colleagues recruited 64 men and women with a mean age of 22 and grouped them into same-sex pairs. His goal was to examinewhat effect coffee had on the body in a stressful situation, especially when consumed in large quantities and in high-stress meetings. After drinking coffee in some cases and decaffeinated in others, each couple had to complete a set of tasks, includingsolve puzzles, memorize and carry out a negotiation. To add stress, they were instructed to publicly explain these tasks.
In this way they discovered thatmen’s ability to act under pressure was markedly worse if they had drunk coffee. Specifically, they took an average of 20 seconds longer to complete puzzles than others who drank decaf. However, women who drank coffee completed these puzzles 100 seconds earlier.
The study authors suggest that the different effects of coffee on both sexes are that, under stress, men tend to exhibit more aggressive behavior, flight or fight, while women tend to cooperate. Caffeine increases dopamine levels, harming them and benefiting them in stressful situations.
