A recent study has found that women consistently have more sensitive hearing than men across all age groups and geographic locations. Researchers led by Patricia Balaresque tested 448 healthy adults from 13 distinct groups in five countries, using a technique called Transient-Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions to measure hearing sensitivity.
The results showed that women’s ears responded better to sound frequencies, with an average difference of two decibels compared to men. This pattern held true across all tested frequencies, suggesting that biological factors may play a role in shaping human hearing. The study also found that the environment played a significant role in shaping hearing sensitivity, with people living in different ecological settings responding best to different ranges of sound frequencies.
For example, individuals from high-altitude rural areas had lower hearing sensitivity overall, while those living in tropical forests had higher sensitivity, especially in frequency ranges important for detecting natural sounds. Urban environments also appeared to shape hearing in unique ways, with city dwellers having hearing profiles shifted toward higher frequencies.
The researchers suggest that these findings challenge existing assumptions and highlight the need to consider both biological and environmental factors when studying hearing. They hope that future research will explore whether the observed differences are due to genetic adaptation or flexible responses to local environments.
Source: https://www.psypost.org/new-study-finds-women-have-more-sensitive-hearing-than-men-regardless-of-age-or-environment