[frossie]

In terms of time taken, the men took 22.48 minutes with instructions, on average, [...] compared with the women taking 23.65 minutes with instructions, on average,

I [female] would lose 5% in time over a median guy just by slower screwdriving, never mind cognitive performance. This is why I assemble Ikea furniture with a power screwdriver - it's not easy work if you're not used to it.

[Retric]

Note a single piece of furniture and a tiny sample size used. A more complex piece could have very different results. Also, including time without instructions is almost pointless in the real world as Ikea ships instructions.

[naasking]

> Also, including time without instructions is almost pointless in the real world as Ikea ships instructions.

Not pointless, they were testing consistency with past results on differences in gender-based spatial reasoning.

[JoeAltmaier]

Don't they use those screw-slot devices that you just turn a quarter turn and they lock? So maybe no difference there.

[alricb]

Yes, but these connectors also include a stud you need to screw into a hole.

In this case though, the Udden trolley [1] is made of steel and uses machine screws, but none of these quarter-turn connectors.

[1]: http://www.ikea.com/aa/en/catalog/products/10176471/

[qq66]

Those take a considerable amount of strength to "lock in"... I always do them when my wife and I assemble furniture. We are quite slow because we apply wood glue to every joint.

[nmeofthestate]

Interesting point. I've never viewed building IKEA furniture as a feat of strength before.

[belorn]

Is there good research on the different in strength? I remember reading Swedish statistics that women are about twice as likely to be regular exercising than men, which I would assume has a large impact on strength.

[Psyonic]

"Mean maximal hand-grip strength showed the expected clear difference between men (541 N) and women (329 N). Less expected was the gender related distribution of hand-grip strength: 90% of females produced less force than 95% of males. Though female athletes were significantly stronger (444 N) than their untrained female counterparts, this value corresponded to only the 25th percentile of the male subjects."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17186303

[mrob]

A popular website for calculating strength standards is: http://www.strengthstandards.co/ This site is intended for people serious about strength training. Somebody who does "regular exercise" without specifically focusing on strength is unlikely to be stronger than the "Novice" level.

According to Wikipedia, the average US male weighs 88.3kg and the average US female weighs 74.7kg.

The big three (squat/bench/deadlift) 1RM total for an average untrained male is 186kg. For an average novice female, 175kg. This suggests that ordinary exercise is not sufficient to make up for the difference in body size and testosterone levels, and only those rare few females who are serious about strength training will be stronger than the average male.

[maerF0x0]

interesting observation, so you'd claim the difference could be entirely due to strength? That'd be an interesting follow up study -- w/ and w/o powertools