It will come as no surprise to any man who has waited for his wife to choose what to wear for a night out.
But scientists have now proved that women are the less decisive sex.
While, of course, the tendency is not always a helpful one, the study found that men are more likely to leap to 『black-or-white』 judgments.
Women, on the other hand, tend to be open minded and 『see more shades of grey』.
In the study, more than 100 people were asked whether each of 50 objects fitted partially, fully or not at all into categories.
Women were 23 per cent more likely to select the 『partial』 option.
Their 『indecisive』 responses were to questions likely to stimulate debate, such as 『Is paint a tool?』 or 『Is a tomato a fruit?』
Most men were happy to decide, for example, that a tomato is either a fruit or not, while women say it can 『sort of』 belong in the fruit category.
Researcher Dr Zachary Estes, of Warwick University, said: 『Of course, simply because we have found a significant sex difference in how men and women categorise does not mean that one method is intrinsically better than the other.
『For instance, male doctors may be more likely to quickly and confidently diagnose a set of symptoms as a disease.
『Although this brings great advantages in treating diseases early, it obviously has massive disadvantages if the diagnosis is actually wrong. In many cases, a more open approach to categorising or diagnosing would be more effective.』
In a conclusion that may explain why Lord Sugar is so at ease with his role choosing which candidate to fire on his show The Apprentice, Dr Estes added: 『Men, it would seem, are more suited to occupational environments that require decisive action whereas women are better at jobs where a considered approach is most important.』
Dr Estes said the gender difference is also consistent with women’s use of tentative language.
He said: 『In general, women tend to use more tentative language such as hedges, for example 『sort of』 and disclaimers like I’m not sure.』
(Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)
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(Agencies)
對於那些曾經因為妻子要挑選晚上出門穿的衣服而苦苦等待的男人來說，這一研究結果並不會讓他們驚訝。
現在科學家已證實女人是比較不善於決斷的那一方。
但是，男人的決斷力並非總是有利的，研究發現，男性更可能做出「非黑即白」的絕對化的判斷。
而女人的思維一般會更開闊，能「看到更多的灰色地帶」。
在這項涵蓋了100多人的研究中，研究人員讓被調查者判斷50種物體是「部分」、「完全」還是「完全不」符合既定的類別。
女性選擇「部分符合」選項的可能性要高出23%。
她們對於一些容易引起爭議的問題會做出「不確定」的反應，例如「顏料是一種工具嗎？」，或「西紅柿是一種水果嗎？」。
在回答西紅柿是不是水果這類問題時，大部分男性都很樂意給出確定答案，而女性會說西紅柿「大概」屬於水果類。
華威大學的研究人員扎克裡•埃斯蒂斯博士說：「當然，我們不能僅僅因為在歸類這方面發現兩性的重大差異就認為其中一種思維方式就比另一種強。
「例如，男醫生也許更能夠快速、確定地對一系列病症做出診斷。
「儘管這非常有助於及早對疾病進行治療，但是如果診斷錯誤的話，顯然也會造成嚴重損害。在許多情況下，對於歸類或診斷採用更開放的思維方式會更有效。」
這一結論也許可以解釋為什麼Lord Sugar在他的《學徒》真人秀中決定哪個候選人被解僱時可以如此得心應手。埃斯蒂斯博士說：「研究表明，男性會更適合需要做出決斷性舉動的職業環境，而女性更善於從事那些需要三思而後行的工作。」
埃斯蒂斯博士說，這一性別差異和女性喜歡運用不確定的語言也是相一致的。
他說：「總體來看，女性一般會用更多不確定的語言，說一些模稜兩可的話，例如『大概』和『我不確定』等免責性的話。」
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（中國日報網英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯： 馮明惠）