Scientists claim men are ‘significantly’ better at navigating than women

If you’ve ever had an argument with your husband or wife when it comes to reading maps or following directions, research now has a definitive answer of who is actually right. It seems that science has finally provided an answer to the age old question of “who is better at navigating, men or women?”

A new academic study has divided opinion by claiming that it’s actually blokes who take the title when it comes to successfully finding their way from A to B.

The research, carried out by scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara, analysed the efficiency of both men and women when navigating between two points with males coming out on top. The findings, published in the Memory and Cognition Journal, , whereas women prefer to stick to tried and tested routes that they are familiar with.

Lead researcher Alexander Boone said men are more likely to take shortcuts to reach their destination quicker.

“As predicted from previous research, these experiments showed that men were more likely to take shortcuts and on average reached their goal location faster than women,” he said. “In contrast, female participants were more likely to follow learned routes and wander. In both experiments, men were significantly more efficient than women, even after controlling for the effects of strategy.”

Scientists have settled an age old argument…

They’ve found that men are better at navigating than women! 🚗 pic.twitter.com/8Ya5hx6mxP

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) May 23, 2018

The findings divided opinion on Channel Seven’s Sunrise this morning when host Samantha Armytage discussed the recently published study with guests on the show. However ,the 41-year-old presenter actually confessed to finding map-reading difficult, despite describing herself as a “very practical woman”, seemingly agreeing with the findings.

“I’m perfectly happy to admit maps are tricky,” Armytage said. “I have to turn them around, maybe that is a male brain thing.”

Meanwhile, male guest Tom Elliott actually disagreed with the claims and said that while this may ring true for other men, the findings don’t apply to his own navigational skills. One explanation given for the results is that men are more accustomed to navigating because they spend more time playing video games.

Boone added: “It is also possible that the sex difference in efficiency is due in part to facility with the interface or navigation in virtual environments, as men tend to spend more time playing video games.”

What do you think? Are men really better at navigating than women?