Poll Finds Men Run Out of Gas More Than Women
Posted on August 31, 2006
A Scripps Howard News Service poll found that 2/3 of men admit to running out of gas and over half say they have been criticized for not asking for directions. Only 52% of women admitted to running out of gas in the survey.
The men not asking for directions issue is widely known and has been the focus of many jokes and used in comedy films. Scientists have even used mice in an attempt to understand how males and females map their surroundings. They found that male rates learn mazes more quickly, but female rats were better at following a maze when the scientists altered it by adding dividers.
It isn't clear how this translates to lost male drivers, but it did indicate a difference in how males and female map their environment. In the Scripps human poll half of men told the Scripps pollsters that they have indeed been criticized for being "reluctant to stop the car and ask for directions." Only 13 percent of women said they been criticized for a failure to ask for directions.
The running out of gas percentages aren't that different. However, the percentages for men and women admitting receiving criticism over not asking for directions is very different. There probably aren't too many people in the world that really believe men are more likely to ask for directions than women.