Stressing About Stress? Study Says It Makes Women Nicer, Men Meaner

Finally, a scientifically-backed reason women make better bosses: we respond in way nicer ways to stress.

A University of Vienna neuroscience lab found that stressed-out men, in an effort to conserve resources, become more self-centered, more egocentric and less empathetic.

The women, however, react in a completely opposite way, becoming "prosocial" and better able to distinguish their own emotions and intentions from those of other people.

The experiment involved administering stressful tasks to participants in subjects such as public speaking and math, and then asking them to recognize other individual's emotions.

“What we observed was that stress worsens the performance of men in all three types of tasks,” noted researcher Giorgia Silani.

She explained that women might have felt as though “they receive more external support when they are able to interact better with others.”

See, we're not really "Mean Girls."

H/T: NYMag, Top Photo Courtesy: We Heart It