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Fidgeting relaxes men in job interviews, stresses women- 16-Feb-2013
London: Fidgeting helps men relax during job interviews, making it easier for them to tackle complex problems, a new study has found.
However, it has the opposite effect for women.
Researchers, from the University of Roehampton, London put a group of men and women through mock job interviews. They looked at whether hair flicks, lip bites, foot taps and other ticks and twitches relieve stress, the 'Daily Mail' reported.
Each volunteer was watched closely as they gave a five-minute presentation about why they were the best person for the job and did a complex mental arithmetic test.
Overall, the men fidgeted twice as much as the women. However, they made far fewer mistakes in the mental arithmetic test and felt less stressed about the whole experience.
In fact, those who fidgeted the most got the most sums right. In contrast, the women who couldn't keep their hands and feet still made more than twice as many errors as the females who didn't fidget. They also felt much more stressed.
"Our study provides unique insights into the way men and women differ in coping with the pressure of a job interview," researcher Professor Changiz Mohiyeddini said.
"It seems that men have an effective behavioural strategy - fidgeting - to combat their nervousness, but for women, the same behaviour actually makes things worse," Mohiyeddini said.
Dr Stuart Semple, the study's co-author, said that fidgeting may provide a temporary release of tension for men.
Women, however, may be more conscious of fidgeting. This could lead to them actively trying to suppress it - and so raise levels of stress.
He added that despite the finding, employers may still view men who fidget as being nervous.
The study was published in the journal PLoS ONE.
