Putting a stereotype to the test: The case of gender differences in multitasking costs in task-switching and dual-task situations

Abstract

According to a popular stereotype, women are better at multitasking than men, but empirical evidence for gender differences in multitasking performance is mixed. Previous work has focused on specific aspects of multitasking or has not considered gender differences in abilities contributing to multitasking performance. We therefore tested gender differences ( N = 96, 50% female) in sequential (i.e., task switching) and concurrent (i.e., dual tasking) multitasking, while controlling for possible gender differences in working memory, processing speed, spatial abilities, and fluid intelligence. Applying two standard experimental paradigms allowed us to test multitasking abilities across five different empirical indices (i.e., performance costs) for both reaction time (RT) and accuracy measures, respectively. Multitasking resulted in substantial performance costs across all experimental conditions without a single significant gender difference in any of these ten measures, even when controlling for gender differences in underlying cognitive abilities. Thus, our results do not confirm the widespread stereotype that women are better at multitasking than men at least in the popular sequential and concurrent multitasking settings used in the present study.

Gender differences in multitasking experience and performance

“…The effect size with Cohen’s d = .5 is within the range of effect sizes (.27–.82 1 ) found in previous gender difference studies in multitasking (Hambrick et al, 2010; Mäntylä, 2013; Mäntylä et al, 2017; Stoet et al, 2013). It is also similar to the effect size used for power analysis in a similar recent study examining gender differences in both dual-task and task-switching paradigms was 0.6 (Hirsch et al, 2019). In addition, with the large number of tasks involved and measurement of personal computer usage, higher rates of attrition and of subject filtering (due to the failure to follow instructions) were expected.…”

“…It should be noted that the indicator where women’s advantage in task switching was found was mixing cost but not switch cost in Stoet et al (2013). In addition, the sample size of this study ( N = 117), while larger than that of Hirsch et al (2019) which found no gender difference in either dual-task or task-switching performance ( N = 96), was smaller than that of Stoet et al (2013) ( N = 231). One may question whether the non-significant result was simply due to a smaller sample size of this study.…”

“…This was partly supported by Lui and Wong’s (2020) finding that males were associated with a smaller response selection limitation closely tied to dual-task costs than females, but no gender difference was found in retrieval and maintenance of task information related to task-switching costs. A recent study (Hirsch et al, 2019) examined gender differences in concurrent multitasking and task switching at the same time and found no gender differences in either paradigm after controlling for gender differences in working memory, processing speed, spatial abilities, and fluid intelligence. However, multitasking experience, which may be a critical factor influencing multitasking ability was not examined (more discussion in the next section).…”

“…Third, we examined whether gender differences in the amount of multitasking experience could explain gender differences in multitasking ability by performing mediation analyses. In the mediation analyses, we also controlled for possible gender differences in five additional cognitive abilities that were found to be associated with multitasking performance including processing speed, working memory capacity, working memory update, inhibition, and interference control (Hirsch et al, 2019; Lui & Wong, 2020; Redick et al, 2016). Finally, we examined whether the effects of multitasking experience on ability depends on gender by performing moderation analysis.…”

Exploring the Dimensions of Smartphone Distraction: Development, Validation, Measurement Invariance, and Latent Mean Differences of the Smartphone Distraction Scale (SDS)

“…These results are also in line with findings from previous studies in which females appear to demonstrate higher multitasking and emotion regulation needs, and to manage their emotions more poorly than males and present with higher problematic smartphone use ( 146 , 152 , 263 – 266 ). Evidence regarding gender differences in multitasking is inconclusive due to conflicting findings, with some evidence suggesting that women are not better than men at multitasking, while other literature suggests that women present with better multitasking skills ( 151 , 267 ). To explain these differences, the hunter-gatherer hypothesis (claiming a cognitive adaptation to different division of labor roles across the sexes) ( 268 ) has been proposed to explain findings of females being less affected by task-irrelevant interruptions in experimentally-generated multitasking conditions, suggesting that females are better at multitasking.…”